Photojournalist Allen J. Schaben began his career at the Los Angeles Times shortly after he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism with minors in art and psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1993. He has worked at the Detroit Free Press, Dallas Morning News, Wichita Eagle, Connecticut Post during internships and temporary full-time status. Schaben loves the diversity of issues and peoples he covers and aims to make a difference in the world. In fact, in 2001, he was awarded a first place Ruben Salazar Award by the California Chicano News Media Assn. Schaben won the award for his photo essay “Mexico’s AIDS Crisis,” which covered the problem of Mexican immigrants who spread the HIV virus to their families upon return to their small villages.

Schaben was also one of the Times staff awarded the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the 2004 Southern California wildfires and Times staff award for the 2016 San Bernardino terrorist attack coverage. His extensive work as a photojournalist has won him numerous awards in national and international competitions including the Pictures of the Year International, Society of Newspaper Journalists, Society for News Design, the American Society of News Editors, National Press Photographers Assn., California Newspaper Photographers Assn. and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. Schaben has traveled as a photographer to India, Thailand, Indonesia, Costa Rica and Mexico, across the United States but primarily Southern California. He is an Eagle Scout and veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves. Schaben has been married 21 years, the father of two teenagers and a golden retriever. Schaben is also a FAA-licensed drone pilot and videographer.