Stephan Savoia is an American photojournalist who has worked for several daily newspapers and the Associated Press during his 42-year career. He has been recognized twice by the Pulitzer Prize Board as a member of two winning Associated Press Feature Photography teams.
Savoia was born in New York City and raised in its metropolitan area. He earned a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Potsdam, where he majored in sociology and social theory and minored in art and photography. He later completed a master's degree in journalism at the University of Missouri, where he studied under photojournalist Angus McDougall. In 2005, Savoia was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts by SUNY Potsdam in recognition of his contributions to visual journalism.
Savoia began his photography career while working on The Racquette, the student newspaper at SUNY Potsdam. After completing his master's degree at the University of Missouri, he worked as a staff photojournalist for newspapers in Monroe and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In November 1990, he joined the Associated Press. From 1990 to 2005, he served as a national staff photographer based in Boston, and continued with the AP as a staff photographer until his retirement in 2018.
The 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography recognized the AP "portfolio of images drawn from the 1992 presidential campaign". Savoia was the lead campaign photojournalist covering Bill Clinton’s presidential bid. The 1999 Prize recognized a collection of images from the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal and ensuing impeachment hearings. Savoia photographed key figures, including Clinton’s personal secretary Betty Currie and her attorney Lawrence Wechsler.
Savoia's major assignments with the Associated Press included:
Savoia’s work has appeared in:
Savoia has lectured and presented on photojournalism at various universities and professional workshops. He served as a judge for the Pictures of the Year International (POYi), the National Press Photographers Association’s Best of Photojournalism competition, and the Boston Press Photographers Association’s college contests. He also served as President of the Boston Press Photographers Association from 2016 to 2020.
In 2025, Savoia became the president of the f4 & See It Foundation, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting impactful photojournalism and documentary photography. The organization promotes the thoughtful and purposeful telling of visual stories, drawing on Savoia’s own philosophy of photojournalism. The foundation’s name, coined by Savoia, is a play on the phrase "f/8 and be there", reimagined as "f4 and See It" to reflect a more deliberate and emotionally aware approach to visual storytelling.