Longtime Sacramento Bee photographer Paul Kitagaki Jr. retires

Veteran Sacramento Bee visual journalist Paul Kitagaki Jr. retired Friday after 23 years at The Bee, concluding a 48-year career as a news photographer.

His byline has appeared more than 5,000 times in the newspaper during that span. Instead of our usual Week in Photos feature, we had him select of some of his favorite pictures.

Paul’s career started in 1978. He photographed his first Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984 for the San Francisco Examiner. He shared a staff Pulitzer Prize at The San Jose Mercury News for the newspaper’s coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.

Paul joined The Bee in 2003 with his wife, visual journalist Renée C. Byer, where he’s photographed numerous governors, wildfires, Super Bowls, the World Series, the NBA playoffs and the recent FIFA World Cup.

He has also created a long-term documentary project focused on survivors and descendants of Japanese Americans incarcerated in World War II, an effort inspired in part by the discovery that legendary documentary photographer Dorothea Lange had photographed his own parents during their forced removal.

Paul plans to continue work in his retirement on this project, which has resulted in a book and a nationally travelling museum exhibit. He also plans to photograph the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

“I am especially grateful to The Sacramento Bee for supporting this work and believing in the importance of preserving these stories,” Kitagaki wrote in a letter to newsroom editors.

“Most of all, I thank my colleagues, friends and readers — and my wife, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Renée C. Byer — for their encouragement, partnership and support throughout this remarkable journey.”

We thank Paul for all his hard work and keen eye over the past 23 years. He has captured many pivotal moments in the history of Sacramento, and those pictures will grace the pages of The Bee for years to come.

This story was initially printed August 1, 2026 at 7:00 AM.