2024 Hall of Achievement Inductee

Steve Dykes is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who began his career working as a photographer and photo editor at the Oregon Daily Emerald, the student-run newspaper at the University of Oregon, where he studied photojournalism.

Steve was an intern under the legendary photographer Brian Lanker at the Register-Guard in Eugene in the early 1980s and then worked part time at the paper until he packed his belongings into his VW Bug and headed to Los Angeles. There he started freelancing for the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times before the Times hired him as a staff photographer in 1985. He later worked as a staff photographer and editor at the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post.

During those stints, he worked on three news teams that won Pulitzers for coverage of the LA riots; the Northridge, California, earthquake; and the Columbine school shooting in Colorado.

Steve currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and works as a freelance photographer for outlets such as Getty Images and the Associated Press.

He also works as a venue photo manager at large events like the Olympics as well as the Rugby and Cricket World Cups. In an age of competing interests for space and services in sports venues, Steve has always advocated for the interests of the photographic community. He cares deeply about newsgathering, photojournalism, and the mechanics that occur behind the scenes to make photographic coverage of events happen. He has left a personal imprint on the global stage across a range of sports and has shared his passion and pride for being a graduate of the University of Oregon in each country he has visited.

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