The iconic Vineyard photographer whose pictures of people spanned more than half a century, died Sunday night at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.

How much does a life’s work weigh? In the case of Peter Simon, seven pounds, two ounces. That’s how much his new book Martha’s Vineyard: To Everything There Is a Season weighs.

Visitors to the Simon Gallery in Vineyard Haven often scan the walls covered with famous singers and activists and make some version of the following remark: “Wow, you’ve got all these pictures with all these interesting people in them, you must have amazing stories.”

Simon. A famous name in arts and literature.