Gordon Gahan

Gahan died in 1984, while taking aerial photographs in the Virgin Islands for a client. He and his assistant, Joseph Capitelli, died along with the pilot when a helicopter crashed near St. Thomas during the photo shoot.

Gahan is best known for his contributions to the National Geographic in the 1970s and 1980s. He began working for the National Geographic Society in 1968 as a contract photographer, and joined the staff in 1972. Assignments took Gahan around the world—to Japan, Kenya, Senegal, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Greece, Soviet Union, East and West Germany, France, Switzerland, Portugal, England, Canada, United States, Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, Belize, Panama, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu, French Polynesia, and Tonga. He left the National Geographic Society in 1982 to co-found Prism Photography Inc., with Martin Rogers and Howie Shneyer, in New York City.

Gahan's photography has won awards including the 1969 and 1970 Pictures of the Year competition sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Gahan's work has been exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery and at Harvard University. Gahan was introduced to US President Richard Nixon at the White House in 1972.

Gahan was born at Sloane Hospital for Women in Manhattan, to Alice M. Ward (housewife, age 37), and Edmund Gahan (owner of an oil well supply business, age 48). He attended Harrison High School, where he played on the football team. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy (1959-1963), where he served on the Photographic Boards of the Exonian and the Yearbook. He attended Columbia University (1963-1964). He worked for United Press International (1965-1966), then was drafted into the United States Army, and worked as a photographer in Vietnam during the Vietnam War (1966-1968).

Gordon Ward Gahan (November 5, 1945 – October 19, 1984) was an American photographer.