Photos: 44 years of Benjie Sanders
Arizona Daily Star photographer Benjie Sanders retires this month after 44 years at the newspaper.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Benjie Sanders, Arizona Daily Star photographer in 2013.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Arizona Daily Star staff photographer Benjie Sanders, shown here in the 1980s, was all business.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Mary Bingham gets a big happy-birthday hug from big brother Beck in her University Medical Center room just before heading down the hall for a party in 2012.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Benjie's tight shot shows Sherry Whetten's eye of the tiger as she gets ready for a sparring session at the Sixth Street Gym. The punching bag took its punishment on July 22, 2011.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Right place, right time, right instinct: Benjie was in just the right spot to capture this Tucson firefighter going to work on an SUV fire in 2012.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Cal tailback Russell White jumps over Arizona's Corey Pittman at Arizona Stadium on Sept. 21, 1991. Benjie was there to put you smack in the middle of the action.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
A curious African cattle egret checks out two lazy rhinos at Reid Park Zoo. Benjie brought this humorous moment to you on March, 1, 1994.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood talks about the retirement of basketball coach Lute Olson on Oct. 23, 2008.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Benjie braved monsoon flooding to capture Chris Nelson and Gabriel Hardin, both 13, enjoying the moment in 1996.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Sports, spot news, features. Sure, Benjie could do all that. But he was also an accomplished portrait photographer. This is popular local jazz musician Mike Tatum on April 22, 2008. He died of complications from Hepatitis C.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Getting the framing just so, Benjie captured Shelly Smith playing a game with her 17-month-old daughter, Taylor, in 1999.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Benjie hit the shutter button at just the right moment after the UA beat Florida in overtime in 1999.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Snow isn't unheard-of in Tucson, but it was still rare enough to excite Bill Flavell in 1999. Benjie was there to distill the event down to one telling photograph.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Quadruplets pose four times the usual challenge for a photographer trying to capture kids, but the Salvo quads, with Dr. PonJola Coney at University Medical Center, were no problem for Benjie in 1993.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Benjie's shot of these people riding the "Spin Out" at the Pima County Fairgrounds in 2001 was sure to make you want to try it. Well, maybe not — it could have made you run the other way, too.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Eight-week-old Timothy Brimhall gets a firm grip on his nurse's finger at the new NICU unit at University Medical Center. Benjie told the whole story in this one simple image in 2010.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Former UA and pro basketball player Bob Elliott, left, and broadcaster Dave Sitton chat before a game against St. Louis in 2002. Sitton passed away last August.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Yo-yo tricksters Billy Dale Oliver, back, and Barney Akers showed their stuff in 1978. As a feature photographer, Benjie had the world on a string.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Hannah Curry rides downslope on the back of Troy Pancost, taking advantage of the snow on Feb. 10, 2009. The Cienega High School students made the perfect subjects for Benjie on that wintry day.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords led the Pledge of Allegiance at the opening of a candlelight vigil on the UA Mall in January 2012, honoring the victims and survivors of the Jan. 8, 2011, shootings in Tucson. The Star sent Benjie to cover the event. Good choice.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
A Tucson police robot probes the mouth of a man who went into a midtown bank on Oct. 3, 2005, with his cheeks bulging and his mouth taped. He handed the teller a note demanding money and saying he had a bomb in his mouth. He didn't, but Benjie got this nice picture anyway.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Benjie caught the intensity of the moment as UA basketball coach Lute Olson rallied the Wildcats in Salt Lake City in 2003.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Louis Taylor celebrates after an April 2, 2013, hearing in Pima County Superior Court. Taylor, who spent more than 40 years in prison for the 1970 Pioneer Hotel fire in Tucson that killed 29 people, agreed to a deal with prosecutors that cleared the way for his release. Once more, Benjie was in just the right spot to record the emotion.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
A.R. Young managed to wrestle this animal into the mud during the steer-wrestling event at 1983's Tucson Rodeo. But who was the winner, the man or the steer? Benjie's photo coyly leaves that up to you to decide.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Oracle snowman builders Dee Reidhead, left, and kids take full — and quick — advantage of a storm in 2000. Benjie just happened to be handy.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Joe Gross and his son, Joey, 8, take their dog for a walk. An ordinary, everyday scene in Tucson? Sure, but in the hands of a professional — that'd be Benjie — the 1997 picture becomes a metaphor for us all.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Former Govs. Fife Symington, left, and Evan Mecham meet during a Tucson debate for gubernatorial candidates in 1990. Benjie's enormous portfolio includes politics as well as spot news, sports and all the rest.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Imagine this: It's 1996. You see kids clowning around, making faces in a ball-like mirror at the Flandrau Science Center. It's nutty, but it's worth recording photographically for posterity. Who you gonna call? Take a wild guess.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Jason Terry celebrates on the shoulders of fans who stormed the court as the Cats defeated Stanford 78-76 in 1999. Give Benjie a hand, too.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
The 1998 Sonoran Region battle had Marana, the No. 2 team in the league, facing No. 1 Sahuaro. The Sahuaro player is Ted Plotts, and the Marana player is Marcus Brubaker. Benjie was courtside to catch the action.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Rockies catcher Kirt Manwaring and Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel meet at home plate during spring training in 1997. Manwaring has the ball, so Trachsel would lose this confrontation. But Benjie captures another winner.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
"The Flyin' Hawaiian" soars high but will regain his seat for a safe landing. Benjie often soared too, with action shots like this one in 2000.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Benjie took you right into the nitty-gritty of this Tucson Rodeo action in 2001. That's Charles Harris hanging on during the steer-wrestling event.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Wendy Huynhas gets a big hug from the big guy in the red suit, who was at Main Gate Square last Dec. 8. Brittany Paielli enjoys the moment. This Christmas present brought to you by Benjie, of course.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Thirty-one desert bighorn sheep were released in the controversial Santa Catalinas bighorn restoration project in 2013. Benjie was there as this ram regained his freedom after being transported from the Yuma area.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Sahuaro High School's Tony Wingate has the ball on the tips of his fingers as he tries to haul in a pass, but on his left and giving him fits is Amphi's Ryan Harper. Trailing the 1998 play is Amphi's Eric Evans. Benjie's quick shutter finger never seemed to trail anything.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Kids celebrated Passover with this musical performance in 1999.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
There were politicians, athletes and a raft of other newsmakers for Benjie's camera to feast upon for 44 years. But there was the rest of the animal kingdom, too, not the least of which was this butterfly, captured last Sept. 25.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
The UA's Jeremy McDaniel stretches to the limit to bring in a pass thrown by Keith Smith as a Washington State defender grabs McDaniel's jersey. The game was in 1998.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Benjie had a nose for news. Don Imus, visiting Tucson radio station KHYT in 1977, had a nose for his microphone.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
The Arizona Wildcats celebrate at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Benjie snagged the moment on March 24, 2011.
44 years of Benjie Sanders
Ken Berry teaches a few dance moves. This was in 1978
44 years of Benjie Sanders
It's a textbook example of how a photographer should capture a happy, emotional moment, presented to you on June 21, 2010, by the master, Benjie Sanders. Nurse Nancy Gates, left, is holding little Nathan Ragland as he grabs a sample of his going-home cake at University Medical Center's neonatal intensive-care unit. This is how it's done, all you shutterbugs. Any questions?