Reuben V. Burrell captured the history and essence of Hampton University during more than 65 years of service as the university’s staff photographer.

He was affectionately known as “One-Shot Burrell” for skills developed during the 1940s wartime when film, flashbulbs and photographic resources were hard to get.

“He could take a really good shot on the first take,” recalled Juliette Harris, former editor of the International Review of African American Art at Hampton University who worked with Mr. Burrell and knew him for more than five decades.

“Many of his shots captured the essence of a moment through his lens,” she said.

Mr. Burrell not only was considered Hampton’s photographer, but its historian. In 2012, the Hampton University Museum published “One Shot, A Selection of Photography” by Mr. Burrell.

Flipping through the pages of history, one can find opera star Marian Anderson descending the steps of HU’s Ogden Hall; civil rights icon Rosa Parks working as a hostess at the university’s Holly Tree Inn; and singer Ray Charles caught in mid-sway at the 1969 Hampton Jazz Festival.

He covered graduations starting in 1949 and photographed countless weddings, university and sports events, as well as campus happenings.

Mr. Burrell is being remembered following his death Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015. He would have celebrated his 96th birthday on Feb. 27.

His life was celebrated Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, at a funeral at the Hampton University Memorial Church.

Photography was his lifelong passion, and he documented 73 years of growth and development of Hampton Institute into today’s bustling Hampton University.

He worked every day at the university up until the day before his death. Even after officially retiring, he worked in the University Museum chronicling his collection of negatives.

Mr. Burrell was born Feb. 27, 1919, in Washington, D.C.

He entered Hampton Institute (now University) in 1938 and earned a trade school diploma in 1941.

After service in the Navy, where he was trained in aviation medalsmithing, Mr. Burrell returned to the university, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in industrial arts in 1947. He earned a master’s degree in the same field from New York University in 1949.

Hampton University President Dr. William R. Harvey called Mr. Burrell “a true Hampton University legend.”

“He captured the Hampton University spirit through his lens for more than 65 years. His photographs and his stories were an inspiration.

“Although Mr. Burrell didn’t have any children of his own, he was a mentor, father and grandfather figure to many generations of Hamptonians. He will be missed,” President Harvey added.

Ms. Harris described Mr. Burrell as “very quiet and self contained. He did not have a sense of self importance or ego,” she said. “That made him more illuminous and memorable.”

She said he hated digital cameras and preferred processing negatives in dark rooms because he loved “seeing the images slowly become visible in the solution.”

In the final few years of his life, Mr. Burrell and volunteers pored through thousands of negatives that he had stored through the years. The resulting prints revealed a vast array of previously unseen photographs.

Today, about 20,000 pieces of his work are being preserved and archived at the HU Museum through a grant.