Eighty-six-year-old photographer Arnaud Maggs didn't suffer media fools lightly. He had so much energy. So much life. He looked 60, yet 90 loomed. People wanted to know if it would ever end. It did. On Saturday. After a brief battle with cancer, the country's most skilled black and white studio photographer passed away in a Toronto hospice.

Over the years I have handled publicity assignments for some of Canada's best known artists, authors, and, now and then, photographers. Although one shouldn't make sweeping generalizations about the personality traits of red hot artists, when it come to photographers, the best cliché is "Mum's the Word".

Three photographers from across Canada have made the shortlist for the 2012 Scotiabank Photography Award. The finalists, Toronto's Arnaud Maggs, Va...