John Gaps III

John Joseph Gaps III passed away in his home on October 17, 2022. He was 63 years old. As an Associated Press staff photographer and former Director of Photography, and later Director of Community Publications at the Des Moines Register, John photographed news events around the globe and at home, from the Gulf War to the Super Bowl to the Iowa State Fair. While his legacy in photojournalism is rich, he is remembered best for his warmth, charm, and deep understanding of the human experience.

John was born in February of 1959 to John Gaps Jr. and JoAnn (Gibson) Gaps in Midwest City, Oklahoma. Spending the early part of their family life in Oklahoma, Kansas City, Missouri and Springfield, Missouri, John and JoAnn finally settled in West Des Moines, lowa, in 1969, with their three children, Julie, John, and Jeri.

John attended Dowling Catholic High School and then Iowa Lakes Community College, in Estherville, lowa on a football scholarship. After one season as a team captain and linebacker for the Lakers, he headed to Iowa State University in the winter of 1978 to join the Cyclones football program. It was at Iowa State that John became seriously invested in photojournalism, leaving his athletic career behind.

In 1980 he married Gina Neibergall with whom he had four children over the next 13 years: John Henry, Ethan, Sarah, and Emilia.

Working for the Iowa State Daily, John was widely published as a stringer on The Associated Press wire service, ultimately finding worldwide success with photographs of a winter scene surrounding a fire at the FIJI fraternity house on campus. The pictures garnered him a job at the Omaha World-Herald as a staff photographer at the age of 22. Before leaving for Omaha, he won the Iowa Press Photographer's Association College Photographer of the Year competition in 1980.

John later worked for the Kansas City Times, starting work there in 1984. It was at the Times that he went on his first international assignment, covering the war in Nicaragua on two separate trips. During the second trip he was tapped to replace the retiring Associated Press staff photographer in Des Moines, returning to a familiar environment.

John was in charge of photos for The Associated Press in Iowa and Nebraska, working simultaneously out of the Des Moines and Omaha bureaus. He was twice Iowa Newspaper Photographer of the Year. In 1986 he became a go-to photographer for The Associated Press, spending the next 14 years covering international stories, specializing in war and conflict situations. He covered conflict in Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, Haiti, the Persian Gulf, Croatia, Bosnia, Somalia and the Occupied Gaza Strip as well as the first Gulf War.

In 1993 he was runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography as part of an Associated Press entry for coverage of the war and famine in Somalia. In 1994 John was wounded by sniper fire in the Occupied Gaza Strip. During his six-month recovery, he became the first internationally working news photographer with digital cameras. He was a pioneer of digital photography, almost 15-years before digital became the standard of photojournalism world-wide. As well as conflict, John covered many political and presidential assignments, natural disasters, the riots in Los Angeles, 10 Super Bowls and six Olympic Games.

In 2001 John left The Associated Press, taking over the job of Director of Photography at the Des Moines Register. A year later the Register won the National Press Club gold medal for photography. He was promoted to the newly created position of Director of Community Publications at the Register, overseeing the ground-breaking community publications, with nine-separate editions three-days-a-week. In 2003 he was recognized as Gannet's Manager of the Year for his work on the publications.

In 2006 John married Robin Paul, moving shortly thereafter to Winterset, lowa where they owned and operated Madhaus Gallery. In 2011 he was laid off by the Des Moines Register. He then started the entertainment company Thousand Dreams Media and Thousand Dreams Productions, working on an original script he wrote titled “Life Briefly”, detailing the life of fellow Iowa residents Bob Knapp and his son Brian.

For the next several years Gaps worked with a variety of talent and production companies trying to bring “Life Briefly” to the big screen. He endured several tragic deaths including his friend and production partner, Bob Knapp, his friend and business agent, Robert Zinser, of Venice, CA, director, Dan Ireland, of Los Angeles and lead actor, Bill Paxton, who was tapped to play Bob Knapp in the movie. Overwhelmed with loss and unable to secure funding, the film was never made.

At his core John was an artist and a writer, photographing nature in his free time, writing a weekly column for the Des Moines Register community sections later in his career, and sharing poetry with friends and family. The walls of his home were graced with photos of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Neil Young. A beloved and often shared memory of his was bringing home bootleg Joy Division records from his time overseas to his young children in the mid 80s. John always had a finger on cool.

John’s time as a war correspondent brought images of war-torn refugees and insurrection to the world. Tormented in his final years by the atrocities he witnessed, we hope that his story sheds light on PTSD and the price paid by those who bear witness to war.

John is survived by his four children, John Henry, Ethan, Sarah, and Emilia; six grandchildren; his sisters, Julie and Jeri; and many nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, November 13, 2022 from 3:00 to 6:00 pm at Mainframe Studios, 900 Keosauqua Way in Des Moines. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be directed to John’s memorial fund via www.johngapsmemorial.com. where photos, memories, and details about the celebration of life can also be found.

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