Hugh Grannum wasn’t just a photographer. He was an artist with a camera.

In his 37-plus-year career at the Free Press, he became known for photographs that captured the heart and soul of Detroit and its people.

In the process, his warm, engaging manner made him a beloved mentor to reporters and photographers who he worked with and a trusted friend and confidant of the private and public figures he photographed.

Hugh Parker Grannum, 72, died today at Harper Hospital in Detroit of leukemia and complications from a kidney transplant in 2010.