Paul S. Conklin, 74; Photojournalist Captured Peace Corps

Paul S. Conklin, 74, a photojournalist who was the first to record activities of the Peace Corps when it was formed in 1964, died Wednesday of cancer at his home in Port Townsend, Wash.

As official Peace Corps photographer, Conklin traveled the world photographing volunteers, war protesters and Third World children.

Later, he collaborated with writer Brent Ashabranner on a series of juvenile nonfiction books about children of vanishing cultures, including Native American tribes. Conklin also wrote and illustrated his own books.

It was Conklin, as a freelance photographer, who made the famous Time magazine photo of a Vietnam war protester placing a daisy in the barrel of a National Guard soldier’s rifle during an anti-Vietnam War protest at the Pentagon. His work was also featured in National Geographic, Paris Match, Vogue and the New York Times. He won first place at the annual White House photography exhibit two times.

Conklin attended Wayne State University and earned a master’s degree from Columbia University. He learned photography while serving in the Army and spent most of his career as a freelancer based in Washington, D.C.