Allen J. Schaben

Los Angeles Times staff photographer Allen J. Schaben is an award-winning journalist capturing a wide range of images since 1990.

His historic photo of the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase in 1994 was one of his first assignments at The Times. However, it was photographing Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, India, the year before that most impacted him as a person.

Since then, he has photographed every U.S. president from Gerald Ford to Donald Trump. The Nebraska-born photojournalist travels the United States and beyond with assignments in India, Thailand, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Canada and Mexico. However, most of his work is here in Southern California.

Schaben also does video work and took his photography to new heights when he became an FAA-certified drone pilot.

Sporting events covered over the years include the Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup, NBA, X Games, U.S. Open of Surfing, and World Surf League Finals. He also covered news and feature stories at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Schaben has become a regular on the red carpet in Hollywood, covering top awards shows including the SAG Awards, Emmys, Golden Globes, Grammys and Academy Awards.

His awards include a first-place Ruben Salazar Award from the California Chicano News Media Assn. for his photo essay “Mexico’s AIDS Crisis” and Pictures of the Year (POY) awards for breaking news. He was part of the Times’ team awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the 2004 Southern California wildfires and the 2016 San Bernardino terrorist attack coverage, and the team honored as a finalist in 2026, also for wildfires.

Before joining The Times, he honed his craft at the Detroit Free Press, Dallas Morning News, Wichita Eagle and Connecticut Post. Schaben earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1993.

Allen is proud to be a U.S. Army Reserves Gulf War veteran and an Eagle Scout. He has been married since 2000 with two adult sons and a spoiled golden retriever.