Alan Hagman

Alan David Hagman, 55, was born on January 11, 1964, in Ft. Wayne, Indiana and passed away on November 11, 2019 at his home in Long Beach California of a cardiovascular event. He had been in good health and his passing was a sudden and unexpected shock to his family, friends and colleagues. Please see also his obituary in the Los Angeles Times newspaper from 11-12-19 by Steven Marble. (https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2019-11-12/alan-hagman-la-times-photo-editor-dies.) . Alan was a photographer, editor and Emmy Award winning multimedia producer whose work has been recognized by Pictures of the Year International, the National Press Photographer's Association and the Society for News Design and the Webby Awards. Alan was raised in Pittsburg, Kansas and graduated from PHS where he was the staff photographer for the PHS newspaper and yearbook and also worked for the Morning Sun newspaper. He attended the University of Kansas where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from the William Allen White School of Journalism and had a prominent college photography career covering KU basketball and football. After completing a photojournalism internship at the White House as the staff photographer for George H.W. Bush in 1986, he started his career with the Los Angeles Times in 1987 at the Ventura bureau. He moved to the Los Angeles headquarters after helping with coverage of 9/11. During his 32 year career with the LA Times, he won many awards including the Life Magazine 1998 photo of the year, an Emmy, several Pulitzer Team photo awards, numerous Photo of the Year awards, and the RFK Humanitarian award in 2019 for photography. He covered the 2008 Olympics in Torino Italy and annually managed coverage of the Rose Bowl and the Acadamy Awards. Alan rose to the position of Deputy Director of Photography and was widely respected by his colleagues across the photojournalism world. He was an alumni of the Eddie Adams workshop, class of 1990. Alan was an early adaptor of technology and digital journalism and a leader in the transition for the LA times from print to digital formats and the development of the online formats. Alan was dedicated to the highest standards of photojournalism and the impact of photography to convey the importance of events around the world. He was always dedicated to freedom of the press and helped support and protect journalists abroad reporting stories from countries where news was often suppressed. Alan was a life long passionate KU Jayhawk basketball fan and traveled often for KU games. He was also an avid golfer with a low handicap and traveled with friends to golf courses around the United States. He also loved the mountains and skiing and often visited his family in Colorado. Alan loved music and going to festivals with friends and family. He covered early Burning Man festivals and Bonaroo for the LA Times. He traveled often for Grateful Dead shows and all subsequent iterations of the band. He went to Jazzfest in New Orleans yearly with his sister and friends from Plastic Swordfish International, in which he was an Elder. He also went to the Telluride Bluegrass festival yearly for the past decade with family and friends. Alan had many close friendships, including lifelong friends from KU. Alan is survived by his mother Frances Hagman (Colorado), his father Bill Hagman (Florida), his sister Jennifer, and her husband Don Hazell (Colorado) and his niece Marisa Hazell (Washington DC) and nephew Nick Hazell. (Berlin, Germany) He was deeply loved and will be missed by so many. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Alan Hagman's name to the National Press Photographer's Foundation for the Alan Hagman grant for documentary photojournalism or the University of Kansas School of Journalism - Alan Hagman Scholarship Fund.