Ken Regan with Bob Dylan
Legendary photographer and photojournalist Ken Regan passed away on Sunday November 25 in a New York hospital, after a long battle with cancer. The photographer is best known for his captivating coverage of news and sports around the world for some of the biggest news agencies. Born in the Bronx, Regan studied journalism at Columbia University and attended New York University’s film school. He began a career in the sports arena, where he photographed the likes of Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson (which can be found in the book Knockout: The Art of Boxing) and Joe Namath, just to name a few.
The photographer has also worked in the world of politics and film, doing assignments that captured images of campaigns and political conventions. He has also worked closely with the Kennedy family on their campaigns and annual family gatherings. His passion for images led him to start his own photo agency in the 1970′s called, Camera 5, which represented 15 photographers. Shooting for Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and Esquire magazines, Ken garnered over two hundred cover credits to his name.
The photography world has lost a visionary of this century, but the work of his three-plus decade career will live on forever as his images continue to captivate us from since he began his career to now. As is the case of this legend’s work, one can truly say that “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
Rolling Stones Time Magazine Cover (1989), Ken Regan
Ken Regan and Madonna, 1985
[stumble]
Ken was a fucking Rock Star! There was nothing he wouldn’t shoot…everything interested him. He was truly one of the most prolific and well respected photographers from the past four decades…so tell me how is it that nearly a week after his death the New York Times still hasn’t seen fit to honor him with an obituary! As a photographer whose work has appeared on the covers of Time, Life, Rolling Stone, People, Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, Fortune, The New York Times Magazine and scores of others, you would think that The Times would have immediately given him the mention he so deserves.
Not to take anything away from the parade of sometime obscure personalities who land on the Obituary Page, but Ken Regan should to be remembered, too.