NBA Finals Showcase Huge Progress of Women in Sports Photography
Photographer Sam (Samantha) Owens is covering her first NBA Finals, representing the long-time advancement of women assigned to document elite sports events.
“We’ve come way far,” sums up Owens, a staff photojournalist at the San Antonio Express-Mail.
Heavy enrollment of women in photography education programs means this trend will continue, Owens says.
Her college classmate/roommate, sports photographer Maddie Meyer, joined Getty Images in 2015 after graduation from Ohio University. Getty assigned Meyer and colleague Sarah Stier to photograph aquatics at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics; they cover top sports year-round.
At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Getty’s newer hire, Emilee Chinn, joined Meyer, Stier, and the Getty team in Italy.
Boston-based Meyer, New York-based Stier, and Philadelphia-based Chinn covered the 2026 NBA playoffs.
Elsa Garrison, known in news photography as Elsa, was the first woman staff photographer hired by Getty Images. She joined the Allsport photo agency in 1996 after graduating from the University of Missouri. The agency was acquired by Getty Images in 1998; Elsa continued as a staff photographer and mentors women and underrepresented photographers.
On May 19, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Photo Contest announced results for 2025: women were honored for action and feature photography (Abigail Dean, Kathryn Riley, and Stephanie VanWagoner).
The emergence of women sports photographers began decades ago. The Detroit Free Press hired photographer Mary Schroeder in 1979.
“When Schroeder stepped into Detroit’s professional sports arena in 1983, it was a man’s world,” says the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. “She was the only female photographer in the country covering sports full time for a major newspaper.”
“A pioneer in a male dominated world, Schroeder was a plaintiff in a lawsuit that demanded equal access by reporters and photographers of both sexes to the Detroit Lions locker room. The lawsuit was settled, and the Lions agreed to provide equal access to both male and female media members.”
Schroeder is best known for capturing a jubilant Kirk Gibson celebrating after his second home run in Game 5 of the 1984 World Series. She was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2020 and the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame in 2019.
Sports photography is male-dominated, but evolving. Owens says, “I’ve had great experiences” with peers and competitors in the field regardless of gender.
Owens finds humor in the mistaken assumption that she is male because of her name.
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“Professionally, I go by Sam,” she says. “People see my name and assume that I’m a guy.”
Owens has met plenty of photographers and sports writers, traversing the country for the Spurs’ 2026 playoff run.
“I flew to Oklahoma City three times, and I’ve been to Portland and Minneapolis,” says Owens (the Spurs defeated playoff rivals from Portland, Minneapolis, and Oklahoma City to advance to the NBA Finals).
The San Antonio Express-News assigns two staff photographers to home games in the NBA Finals; Owens travels to New York for the away games in the best-of-seven Finals series (San Antonio Spurs vs New York Knicks; the Knicks won Game 1 in San Antonio on June 3).
Owens joined the San Antonio Express-News in 2021. She covered the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, and its aftermath.
The Headliners Foundation of Texas named Owens its 2022 Star Photojournalist of the Year.
From 2017 to 2021, Owens worked for the Evansville Courier & Press in southern Indiana. The Indiana News Photographers Association named her the 2019 Indiana Photographer of the Year.
Owens has game-day rituals, like pro athletes. She arrives three hours+ before tipoff to set up equipment, check technology for fast transmission of images, take pre-game photographs, and eat.
She files photos throughout the games.
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On June 1, two days before the Game 1 NBA Finals opener in San Antonio, these pre-game questions were on her mind:
Weary from the grueling playoff schedule and recovering from a head cold, Owens knows that when the 2026 NBA Finals are over, she’ll be able to offer insights to the next newcomer photographer, man or woman.
About the author: Ken Klein lives in Silver Spring, Maryland; he is retired after a career in politics, lobbying, and media including The Associated Press and Gannett in Florida. Klein is an alumnus of Ohio University and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Scripps College of Communication. Professionally, he has worked for Fort Myers News-Press (Gannett), The Associated Press (Tallahassee), Senator Bob Graham, and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA).