John C.P. Goheen
Director of Photography – Producer – Editor – Educator – Storyteller
John Goheen is a freelance visual storyteller, producer and educator based in Chicago, Illinois. John is considered one of America’s premier visual storytellers. His work has been recognized as some of the best in the business, receiving more than 300 local, regional, and national awards. John is widely recognized for his storytelling skills and for his ability to capture great sound and pictures. His honors, which include 16 Emmy Awards, have been granted for all kinds of stories, from spot news and features to sports and documentaries.
John is the first three-time winner of television’s top award for photojournalism, the National Press Photographers Association’s (NPPA) Television News Photographer of the Year. In addition to winning the Television News Photographer of the Year title three consecutive years, he finished as runner-up three additional times. NPPA also gives a Television Station of the Year award, which recognizes the best television news photography newsroom. Stations John worked at received this award three times while he was on staff.
He is also a recipient of the prestigious Joseph A. Sprague Memorial Award, considered amongst the highest recognition a television photojournalist can receive. In addition, since he started teaching full-time in 2009 his work as been honored twice with the Governors Award by the Broadcast Educators Association.
John has traveled to nearly 100 countries to photograph major stories and events. Some of his assignments have included the civil war and famine in Somalia; Desert Storm; the eruption of Mt. St. Helens; the Super Bowl; and the grueling Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska. Other assignments have taken Goheen to Ukraine, Central and South America, Romania, Chile, Mali, Uganda, Chad, Israel, Northern Ireland, Hungary, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, Cuba, Russia, Tuvalu, Republic of Georgia, Vietnam and throughout much of central Europe.
He has produced and directed over 100 documentaries to include the highly acclaimed HBO feature length documentary, Lady Warriors. The feature length documentary, V-Day, a group sourced film project honoring America’s military veterans, aired nationally on PBS. Most recently his award winning documentary We Are Tuvalu aired throughout the Pacific, Asia and eastern Europe on Australia's ABC network as well on New Zealand's Maori TV and in the US on PBS.
John began his broadcasting career in 1977 with the U. S. Army, working for the American Forces Radio and Television Network, Europe. In 1980, John took his first commercial position with KTUU-TV, Anchorage, Alaska, as Chief News Photographer. For the next 12 years, He worked as a staff photographer at KOB-TV, Albuquerque, New Mexico; KUTV, Salt Lake City, Utah; followed by KOMO-TV, Seattle, Washington; and KMGH-TV, Denver, Colorado.
John became a full-time freelance photographer and producer in 1993. He has worked for CBS 48 Hours, Dateline NBC, NBC Sports, ABC Monday Night Football, ESPN and ESPN 2, NBC Nightly News, NBC Today, CBS Evening News, CBS Before Your Eyes, Fox News and Fox Sports, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Sunday Morning, CBS News 60 Minutes, BBC, Al Jazeera English and America, CBS News 60 Minutes II, CBS News The Early Show, PBS, The Discovery Channel, United Methodist Communications, Corbis Documentaries, Hallmark Entertainment, HDNet, National Geographic and many others as well as numerous corporate clients.
John often speaks at workshops and professional seminars around the US and abroad. He has consulted with various television stations, universities, and the American Forces Radio and Television Network. He has conducted seminars at the Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) annual convention, the Maine Film and Television Workshop, The Broadcast Educators Association and spent over 20 years as one of the founding faculty members of the NPPA Advanced StoryTellers Workshop.