Award-winning photographer, music producer and travel writer Paul Zammit Cutajar passed away on Tuesday, following an illness. He was 71.
Those who crossed his path in the many different fields he worked in during his lifetime, all connected to his creative and artistic side, said he would be “sorely missed”.
A musician himself, Zammit Cutajar formerly formed part of the band Flying Alligators, writing the lyrics and playing the synthesiser. He was also the owner of recording studio, Farmhouse Studios Ltd.
Zammit Cutajar was involved in the Malta Eurovision, and the songwriter for Malta Song for Europe tracks for Ira Losco, Claudette Pace and Gianni Zammit, among others.
Losco recalled she met Zammit Cutajar in 2000 when recording with the band she then fronted.
Speaking about the man who was “so young at heart”, the pop singer said the two “hit it off immediately”. He asked her if she wanted to help him at the studio and then wrote a song called Deep Inside My Heart, which he dedicated to a German friend, who had lost her life tragically, leaving him heartbroken.
“Paul had a very short temper, but when he was up for the laughs, he was so much fun! I had many heart-to-hearts with him,” Losco reminisced about the man who signed her on to Bridge Productions and even toured with her.
Zammit Cutajar went on to reinvent himself, becoming a freelance professional photographer, with a particular interest in sports, travel and wildlife.
He was a travel writer and freelance photographer for Times of Malta, scooping Malta Journalism Awards for the paper.
His career in sports photography kicked off in 2007 when he covered a football match between Malta and Turkey, and he was first published in Times of Malta.
He then went on to cover the first-ever Youth Olympic Games in 2010 in Singapore, the London Olympics in 2012, the Games of Small States in Luxembourg in 2013 and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.
Zammit Cutajar was also awarded the International Olympic Committee Trophy – Sport and Art for 2014.
Throughout the years, he also covered FIFA World Cup games and UEFA Champions League finals, and was the official photographer of the Malta Football Association.
Named Sports Photographer of the Year at three IGM Awards, he was described as needing no introduction as a “photographer of quality” and his football action photos earned him praise and recognition.
Talking to www.mfa.com.mt in 2016, Zammit Cutajar said: "It takes more than one person to carry an award”, giving credit to his colleagues, who spent “long hours, season after season and against the elements to bring beautiful pictures to sports that we love so much”.
Fellow professional photographer and friend Kurt Arrigo said he was “passionate about capturing sports and very dedicated; always willing to go that extra mile and commit”.
Another colleague Darrin Zammit Lupi said he had been “missed for some time, ever since illness meant he could no longer continue photographing sports, something he loved and absolutely excelled at”.
Known to many as Magu, Zammit Cutajar was described as “kind and charming” by those who knew him.
"He was a brilliant host and could cook a killer green curry. He had his ups and downs like most of us, but I believe his heart was always in the right place,” said old friend psychotherapist Edward Curmi.
Among his long-standing friends was also Gianni Zammit, who recalled the many brilliant times they had together: “the memories, the laughs, the music, the friendship…
“See you later alligator,” Zammit appropriately signed off in a Facebook post.