John Long was a photojournalist with The Hartford Courant newspaper for 35 years, filling in as a picture editor when needed. He has covered every kind of assignment from the simplest neighborhood event to natural disasters and national political events. He is noted for his coverage of homelessness issues and his artistic photographs of classical ballet.

After retiring from active shooting, he now teaches a course in photo editing at the S. I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Previously he taught a course on Issues in Journalism for five years at Manchester Community College as an adjunct.

He is a past president of the National Press Photographers Association (1989-90) and serves as Ethics Chairman for NPPA. He has lectured all over the world on photojournalism ethics, especially the ethics of digital manipulation. He has appeared on many TV shows including The News Hour and has produced his own video on ethics for NPPA.

John Long has received many awards for his photography and for his work in the field of ethics. In 2007, he received the Joseph A. Sprague Award from the NPPA, the highest award the organization offers.

He is a graduate of the Catholic University of America. He taught high school English for three years before becoming a photographer. He and his wife Mary have three grown daughters. The Courant (the oldest newspaper in continuous publication in the U.S., founded in 1764) is the only newspaper for which he ever worked.