Auburn photographer Duane Hamamura, 57, dies

At Emerald Downs Thoroughbred racetrack in Auburn, there have been just a few early-morning mainstays: some jockeys, a couple of trainers — and Duane Hamamura, his camera in tow.

He was there at least two mornings a week before sunrise, though for much of the time he had a full-time newspaper job, and he wasn't being paid to snap photos at the racetrack. He knew everyone and would often present them with portraits he shot unexpectedly. He knew every racing statistic, even those the racers themselves didn't remember. And his pictures, which graced many a calendar and brochure, were legendary.

"He maintained perhaps the most extensive visual archive of Thoroughbred racing in the Pacific Northwest, and probably in the country, over the 35 years he covered the sport," Emerald Downs spokesman Vince Bruun said.

Mr. Hamamura, an award-winning local news and sports photographer, horse enthusiast and lifelong Auburn resident, died at home late Saturday of a heart attack. He was 57.

Colleagues, acquaintances and family members remember Mr. Hamamura as a quiet, humble and independent man with keen observational skills.

"His mind was like a Rolodex — he could give you any name or number, could point you to a time or day you couldn't remember," said Mark Klaas, editor of the Auburn Reporter.

Mr. Hamamura is best known for the photographs he took for several now-defunct publications in the Green River Valley. After graduating from Green River Community College in 1971 with a degree in photography, Mr. Hamamura joined the staff of the Auburn Globe-News, Renton Record-Chronicle and Kent News-Journal newspaper group in the mid-1970s. There, he shot everything from high-school graduations to scenes of the investigation into the Green River killings — but his passion lay in sports photography.

"He had a wonderful sense of what makes a great photo" and an ability to see what most couldn't, said Dean Radford, editor of the Renton Reporter and longtime colleague of Mr. Hamamura's. "No matter what the assignment, he would always come back with really great photos. He captured the visual history of King County for 25 years."

Mr. Hamamura was a two-time recipient of the Mark Kaufman Media Award for excellence in horse racing and breeding coverage in Washington, according to Radford and Klaas.

Mr. Hamamura went on to work at the Valley Daily News in Kent, which later became the King County Journal. When the Journal dissolved in 2007, he was hired by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where he worked as a nighttime photo technician until the P-I folded in 2009.

Co-workers say Mr. Hamamura didn't talk much, but every once in a while he would let slip a peculiar joke or list a slew of little-known statistics.

Talking to him, you never knew where the conversation would go or end," Klaas said. "It was kind of a rambling collage of thought with him."

Mr. Hamamura's sister Joyce Hamamura of Gig Harbor said he'd always been that way. He grew up with two older sisters on a strawberry farm in Auburn, where he kept to himself and completely devoted himself to a few hobbies, including hydroplane racing, baseball and photography.

"He had laser-beam focus when something struck his fancy," Joyce Hamamura said, and he knew he was unique in that regard. "Not that long ago, he told me, 'Well, I'm just different.' He seemed comfortable with that."

In addition to his sister Joyce, Mr. Hamamura is survived by his mother, Ritsuko Hamamura, and another sister, Sharon Harris, both of Auburn.

Public services for Mr. Hamamura will be at 4 p.m. Saturday at the White River Buddhist Temple in Auburn, 3625 Auburn Way N.

Jill Kimball: 206-464-2108 or jkimball@seattletimes.com

Information on this article, originally published on Feb. 3, 2011, has been corrected. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Duane Hamamura started working at the Valley Daily News in 1999. He started working there in 1990, when the Auburn Globe-News, the Renton Record-Chronicle and the Kent News-Journal merged to become the Valley Daily News. Hamamura left the Valley Daily News briefly and returned in 1999.