Sean Gallagher began his photography career working at his hometown weekly newspaper, the Bettendorf News and later, one of the area's two daily newspapers, Quad-City Times in neighboring Davenport, Iowa. Sean graduated from the Missouri School of Journalism after appearing every semester on the Dean's list. After more than a year as a photography editor intern at then St. Louis-based Sporting News Magazine, Sean relocated to Dallas, Texas to launch his freelance career. Sean has been serving a diverse range of clients from the New York Times to ad agencies and architects since 2001.

Along the way, Sean's work has been awarded on occasion including a bronze medal and a gold medal in consecutive years in the sports portfolio division of the College Photographer of the Year competition.