It's been a couple of days since news came of the passing of John Gaps III. There has been a myriad of testimonies of John some marked with sadness, some shock and others with an outpouring of who he was and how humble we knew him to be. He was stubborn and a risk taker. I'm sure that's why we were in awe of his work. John was known in the photography circles as "the global fireman". Whenever there was anything of significance happening in the world, the Associated Press (AP) sent him off to the front lines.
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| The Funeral of Princess Di |
Sometimes it was the actual front lines, like in Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait in 1991. Other times it was the fall of the Berlin Wall. Or maybe it was the funeral of Princess Diana. Remember the Sammy Sosa-Mark McGuire home run chase. Gaps was there. John was ready at the drop of the hat. Duty called and he was off in a moment's notice.
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| The home run chase |
Not everyone sees the behind the scenes of what makes a person special at their craft. I just happened to be that fortunate. I had been working on a project for Iowa Public Television which featured people in their careers and John became one of my prized gets, so to speak. He agreed to have us follow him around videotaping a day in the life of a photographer. Days after his acceptance came word of Pope John Paul II making a whirlwind tour of the United States. One of those stops was St. Louis. The year 1999.
John and I and my crew spent three days together. We saw him navigating his way through security check points with the right amount of firmness and respect. He was a reporter by nature that he knew the right questions to ask to get in the right position for the shots he desired. He had a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C and the Ad Lib Plan. He got every shot he wanted that day in history. And the newspaper readers were the beneficiaries of that hard work. In those pictures you saw in small print the credit, John Gaps III . It was a name known world-wide. It was like his name on the photo gave relevance to the subject.
Weeks after the Pope's visit, John and I were talking about the video project and when it would be ready for release. Our conversation led us to subject he also had a passion for. Public Speaking. In short, he told me he was going to speak to a group about his job and travels. The fee, he said was $50. "I can recall so vividly that I looked at him and said, John, you should be charging ten times that", "You think", he smiled. So, I started booking speaking engagements for him. His audiences were always blown away by the stories he told and how he used his photos to bring the events to life. He was a crafty one.
My point is this. John brought us images that were so unique and so special. But what many of us never saw was what images remained in his mind to get those shots. The death, destruction and man at his worst. He carried so much of that with him. But he wanted to do a job and do it right. No matter the cost. And there was a tremendous one.
Just last week he called to tell me that he was thankful that I was such a good friend to him. I can't recall exactly how I responded. Most likely stumbling words of some degree. As we talked about my family and some experiences with war, I could hear it in his voice. He had similar memories and emotions of the damage done. He cried and I choked back tears. After an hour of reconnecting, he finally said, "I got to go lay down". And we signed off. Did he know what the following week would bring? I'll never know. I want to believe he did. So, now it's my time......
Love you brother. You were truly special. If only I could have uttered that out loud when I had the chance.
YGG,
John
