After graduating from Richmond Professional Institute (now Virginia Commonwealth University) in 1965, Gowin attended the Rhode Island School of Design. While earning his MFA, Gowin studied under influential American photographers Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind.
Gowin retired from teaching at Princeton University at the end of 2009 and lives in Pennsylvania with his wife Edith.
"Le mystère d'une photographie se révèle pleinement dans sa limpidité, quand rien ne vient l'obscurcir. Quand tout paraît nous être donné dans l'image, il nous revient alors d'en compléter le sens" Emmet Gowin
