Obituary: Philippe Hays

They say a picture paints a thousand words.. Philippe, I have no words to paint my sorrow. No words can describe your loss. My thoughts are with your family. Franz

Phillippe also helped me recently – “our loss is Heavens gain” – gone too soon but remembered.

my deepest sympathy to your family.

Salut Phillippe

I was in touch with Philippe quite often. Sometimes about photography but more often it was just about daft jokes spinning across continents. Sometimes in his perfect English and sometimes in my appalling French about which he was always very indulgent. A really helpful guy who seemed to live life on the bright side. This is just shocking and dreadful news. Philippe’s family have my deepest sympathies.

I was deeply saddened to hear of loss of Philippe.

My thoughts and sympathies go to his wife, children and family.

In the short time I have been on this list Philippe was always incredibly
helpful to any of my posts. It is clear that his is incredibly well
respected by all his peers and I hope that his wife can learn just how liked
by all of us he was.

My thoughts are with his wife and daughter.

Shocking and sad news.

I met Philippe on quite a few occasions while working in the South-East. He was a lovely man, a frenchman with an Englishman’s wit and a very talented and committed photographer. May you rest in peace.

Salute.

I never met Philippe but I always found his postings informative, helpful and often amusing. He came across as sincere and caring with a good sense of humour.

Like everyone else, I am shocked by the news. My condolences to his family.

Terrible news. I never met Phillipe but as a regular on the EPUK list his wise words and humour always shone through. He will be deeply missed by all.

My condolences to his family.

Phillippe has been an EPUK member for many, many years, and was instinctively in tune with what it is all about. He helped define EPUK as the resource and community it is, and his was one of the names I always watched out for. He had the generosity to share his wisdom and humour, marred only by occasional misguided attempts to pretend that being French was somehow a good thing.

I now much regret never having met him in ‘real life’. I also regret somehow never having got around to looking at his photo’s before, in all those years. He was good. Exceptional, in fact.

From what has been said, he was very dedicated to his family. We don’t talk about that sort of stuff on EPUK, and Phillippe didn’t. But it’s no surprise that he knew what truly matters in life and lived by it. It was in his contributions to EPUK and in his work. I just hope it is some comfort to his wife and daughter to know they are not alone in missing him.

Thankyou Phillippe.

The combination of Philippe’s authoritative comment and wry humour meant many of us looked out for his posts on EPUK even though we didn’t know him personally. He will be missed.

Dear Philippe, EPUK will not be the same without you, and although we never managed to meet I found our phone conversations, amusing, entertaining and informative, it really was a delight to meet someone so passionate about their work and as we all now know, their family. My thoughts go to your family and loved ones, mon brave.

Like many others I only knew Philippe through his postings and the help he gave me on a several occasions. Always quick to assist he was equally amusing and light-hearted. I truly regret not having met up with him for that ‘watering hole’ appointment. I am certain that I would have been the richer for it.
We shall miss his presence and my thoughts and condolences go to Julie and their daughter.
Graham Bool

I was very shocked to learn today the terrible news of Phillipe Hays.

I have known Phillipe for around 10 years and I always had great respect for him as a fellow professional.

I will miss his wonderful french/english accent witty humour and of course the many stories we shared together.

My sincere thoughts go out to his family at this very sad time.

Richard Knights

I first met Philippe on a doorstep, hanging outside Michael Barrymore’s house shortly after the infamous pool death in 2001. We gelled immediately having not only a passion for photography but also good food and the music of Frank Zappa.

Philippe had a strong attention for detail, his light meter often seen swinging from his neck, something few photographers bother with. But Philippe was fastidious and a perfectionist. He was also adventurous and we would often team up travelling sometimes hundreds of miles to get stock pictures. Before moving to England he already had a comprehensive stock of photographs taken in Corsica and throughout the rest of France.

I covered many assignments with Philippe, travelling with him to Normandy in northern France for the 2005 D-Day commemorations, to Suffolk for Claudia Schiffer’s wedding as well as numerous demonstrations, marches and other events in London. He had great stamina and ability to work for hours without a break. He was always fun to be with and great company. Besides his passion for photography he had many other interests. He was a fan for Herge’s TinTin books, which he had read many times over. He read both Time magazine and the Daily Telegraph regularly, but was nonetheless liberal in his political outlook. He was a big fan of 24, the US television series, the Lord of the Rings trilogy and science fiction. Only recently he was singing the praises of Firefly.

As with all freelancers he always sought to obtain better rates and conditions from clients. It was often the topic of conversation that clients weren’t prepared to pay reasonable rates or understand the work involved.

Philippe was devoted to his wife Julie, and of course his lovely daughter Estelle, who is now nine. The sudden loss has been devastating to his family and close friends alike.

The last time I saw Philippe we covered the Burma protests in London and later ate in Chinatown. My telling him of China and teaching him some Mandarin was beginning to kindle an interest in travelling there some time in the future. He also expressed plans to move back to France in the near future.

It is such a tragedy Philippe was unable to fulfill all his hopes and dreams. But in his short life he did accomplish many great things and made a great many people very happy.

I shall have many fond memories of a true friend. Philippe’s funeral at Chelmsford Crematorium was well attended by friends and fellow photographers and there were many tributes and flowers including some sent by EPUK and Rex Features. He will be greatly missed.

Rob Welham, BA.