Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer Jerry Gay, Known for Iconic Image of Exhausted Firefighters, Dies

Photojournalist Jerry Gay — who won a Pultizer Prize for his shot of four firemen resting after fighting a house fire and took some of the most iconic images of serial killer Ted Bundy – has passed away.

The news of Gay’s death was confirmed with an Instagram post by his daughter Ellen Bohn. He passed away on October 14 weeks away from his 80th birthday.

“With heavy hearts, we share the passing of our dad, Jerry Gay, 79, who peacefully passed away this morning, October 14th,” Bohn writes in the Instagram poost. “Jerry was a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, an adored father, grandfather, and a dear friend to so many. We are grateful for the love, memories, and moments shared with him.”

Gay developed an interest in black-and-white photography in his youth and studied at the Brooks Institute of Photography before beginning a career in photojournalism, covering breaking news across the country. His keen eye for detail shaped his work at several newspapers, including The Daily Herald, The Seattle Times, Newsday, and Los Angeles Times.

A Routine Job Became Pulitzer-Winning Photo

A defining moment in Gay’s career came in October 1974 while he was working for The Seattle Times. when a photograph he took of four exhausted firefighters resting at a house fire in Burien, Washington, earned him a Pulitzer Prize. According to a report by the Seattle Pi in 2002, 27-year-old Gay was driving through the early-morning darkness, instinctively responding to fire calls crackling over his radio scanner. By the time he arrived at a house fire in Burien, Washington, firefighters had largely brought the blaze under control. Gay made his way through mud, fog and acrid smoke until he spotted four exhausted firefighters sitting against a muddy bank.

“I took six or eight frames, all at once,” Gay told the Seattle Pi. “They all had a deep, reflective look. I could tell they were rethinking what they’d just been through.”

What began as a routine assignment produced an unusual photograph. The image showed the firefighters in a moment of exhaustion and reflection, reminiscent of photographs of American servicemen during the Vietnam War. Published in The Seattle Times later that day under the title A Lull in the Battle, the photograph offered readers a poignant and different view of the ordinary people who respond to emergencies.

A Famed Image of a Shackled Ted Bundy

Gay was also responsible for some of the most famous images of notorious American serial killer Ted Bundy. In June 1977, while Bundy was transported from Garfield County Jail to Aspen for a preliminary hearing, he leaped from a courthouse second-floor window and survived several days in the woods before being captured.

According to a report by Edmonds Beacon, it was a few months after this that Gay got his opportunity to photograph back at the county jail, where Bundy remained in custody. During his time with the convicted murderer, Gay took an iconic black-and-white photograph of Bundy from a low angle, showing the serial killer’s shackled feet beneath a desk in a Colorado jail as he clutched a book and fixed the camera with a one-eyed stare.

“I let him create. He had shackles on his feet,” Gay told Edmonds Beacon. “I got on the floor; he got totally involved in his law book. I just let him give himself to me. I wasn’t there to judge him. I was there to document him. His life was there now, and I had to show my appreciation for him giving to me, so he would keep giving and not, at some point, act like a journalist or judge him.”