A top photographer, found dead at his home this morning, apparently committed suicide, according to press reports.

Tributes have been paid to South Africa-based photographer Garth Stead, a former winner of a Fujifilm Press Award, according to an article published by the Cape Times for which he once worked.

Stead, described as ‘gifted’, was picture editor of Foto24 in Cape Town. Before that he worked for the newspaper, Die Burger.

‘I’d like to remember him as the Englishman who always had time for a joke and wasn’t scared to laugh at himself,’ former colleague Michele O’Connor told the South African Times.

She added: ‘He lived for what he did, to take photographs. At times he “painted” with his camera.’

Stead’s famous subjects have included Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

His list of clients includes Reuters, the BBC and the New York Times.

For more on this breaking story visit the South African Times.