Gahan, Gordon W.

Born in New York, Gordon Ward Gahan attended Phillips Exeter Academy, 1959-1963, and Columbia University, 1963-1964; worked for United Press International, ca.1965-1967; was drafted into the U.S. Army and served as a photographer in Vietnam, ca.1967-1968. He worked as a contract photographer on various book and magazine assignments for the National Geographic, 1968-1972, and as a staff photographer for National Geographic Magazine, 1972-1982. In 1982 he left National Geographic to co-found a photo agency, Prism Photography, in New York. Gahan died in 1984.

From the description of Gordon Ward Gahan photographs and papers, 1960-1984. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 229985304

Born in New York, Gordon Ward Gahan attended Phillips Exeter Academy, 1959-1963, and Columbia University, 1963-1964; worked for United Press International, ca.1965-1967; was drafted into the U.S. Army and served as a photographer in Vietnam, 1966-1968. He worked as a contract photographer on various book and magazine assignments for the National Geographic, 1968-1972, and as a staff photographer for National Geographic Magazine, 1972-1982. In 1982 he left National Geographic to co-found a photo agency, Prism Photography, in New York. Gahan died in 1984.

• 1945: Gordon Ward Gahan born November 5, 1945, at Sloane Hospital, Manhattan, to Alice M. Ward, 37 years old, housewife, and Edmund Gahan, 48 years old, owner of an oil well supply business.
• ca.1958: Attends Harrison High School in Harrison, New York. Plays on football team.
• 1959 - 1963 : Attends Phillips Exeter Academy. Serves on the Photographic Board of The Exonian, along with Randall Lewis, Larry Palmer, Silas Yates, Thomas Nash, and Thomas Plimpton. Serves on the Photographic Board of the Yearbook, along with Nicholas Deane, Daniel French, Randall Lewis, Jerome Mathiason, Davide Teele, and Christopher Wilson.
• 1963 - 1964 : Attends Columbia University, New York. Completes courses in: Devl Westn Inst + Soc Ideas; College Composition 1; Eur Lit + Philos Mastrpiecs 1; Elementary Japanese; Taoist Thought + Its Developmnt; and Theories of Religious Behavior.
• ca.1965 - 1967 : Gahan's photos are published through United Press International in various newspapers in the USA, including the Minneapolis Tribune, St. Cloud Daily Times, Kankakee Daily Journal, Moline Dispatch, Grand Rapids Press, Jacksonville Journal, De Kalb Daily Chronicle, and Schenectady Gazette. Photographic subjects include: the funeral of Malcolm X at the Faith Temple, Church of Christ, Harlem; San Juan, Puerto Rico; New Croton Reservoir, New York, during drought; New York Democratic State Chairman William H. McKeon, announcing his resignation; actors Candice Bergen, Larry Hagman, Paul Henreid, Monika Henreid, Walter Matthau; film director Sidney Lumet; Thunderbird Golf Tournament at the Westchester Country Club in Harrison, NY; New York mayoral candidate John Lindsay; Barbara Hyman, daughter of Bette Davis; Nazare, Portugal. Photo story "Flood Waters Rise" exhibited as an entry to World Press Photo 1966 in the Municipal Museum of the Hague, 12/16/66-1/29/67. Appointed newspictures manager of United Press International, Minneapolis.
• ca.1967 - 1968 : Inducted into the United States Army. As Photographer, Information Office, Headquarters, US Army Vietnam, accompanies 173d Airborne Brigade in battle in November 1967 against the North Vietnamese on Hill 882 in the Republic of Vietnam. Awarded the Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart.
• 1968 - 1972 : Works for the National Geographic Society as a contract photographer, 1968-1972, and a staff photographer, 1972-1982. Travels widely. Awarded Honorable Mention, 1970 Picture of the Year (National Press Photographers Association) for photo entitled "Japanese Couple."
• 1972: Meets US President Richard Nixon at the White House.
• ca.1982 - 1984 : Co-founds Prism Photography Inc. (in New York/Washington DC?)
• 1984: On assignment in the Virgin Islands near St. Thomas, October 19, 1984, dies in a helicopter crash along with two others, including Gahan's assistant, Joseph Capitelli.

From the guide to the Gordon Ward Gahan photographs and papers., 1950-1984., (Fine Arts Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University.)