JB Reed Photography

Stuart Eisenkraft - Portrait

2010-08-19T05:14:00.000-07:00

My first New Yorker picture!

2010-05-13T05:59:00.000-07:00

I'm laying in bed last night reading the table of contents for the May 17th New Yorker when I notice a story about Goldman
Sach's new headquarters.

Huh, I think to myself, I just shot that building for Bloomberg.

So I flip to the article, and guess whose image they used? Mine!

Washington Post Section Cover

2010-03-23T11:51:00.001-07:00

A pill photo that I shot for Bloomberg was used by The Washington Post on Sunday as the cover of their business section.

Environmental Portraits

2010-03-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

I've been shooting environmental portraits lately - real estate executives, among others.

I'm enjoying the portraiture process, including working with the setting, subject, lighting, etc.

Lawsuits, Gold, and Cabaret

2010-02-22T10:06:00.000-08:00

My image ran on the NY Times City Room blog on January 20th with a story about the NYCLU suing the city for misbehavior by police stationed in New York City schools.

My image ran on the NY Times City Room blog on January 19th with a story about Rep. Anthony Weiner busting Cash 4 Gold for scamming customers.

The image below was shot on assignment for the following article in The New York Times on January 14th about a Jay Leonhart cabaret show.

Murder at the Peninsula Hotel

2010-02-18T04:47:00.000-08:00

My picture ran in The New York Times on February 5th with a very sad story about a mother who allegedly poisoned her young son at the Peninsula Hotel in midtown.

Similar assignments sometimes turn into scrums with photographers aggressively jostling for position. But all the photographers on this assignment were very respectful. Everyone shot their frames in silence and then left quietly.

There is a photo of the boy's body bag, but I decided not to publish it here.

Help for Undocumented Haitians

2010-02-11T12:43:00.000-08:00

My photo ran along with a story on January 29th about the NY Bar Association providing free legal aid on taking advantage of Obama's temporary protected status for undocumented Haitians. It was a challenging shoot as I wasn't allowed to show the faces of any undocumented people.

Pilgrim At Tinker Creek

2009-11-30T09:47:00.001-08:00

just finished reading it. highly recommended.

some favorite passages:

"It has always been a happy thought to me that the creek runs on all night, new every minute, whether I wish it or know it or care, as a closed book on a shelf continues to whisper to itself its own inexhaustible tale... I can hardly believe that this grace never flags, that the pouring from ever-renewable resources in endless, impartial, and free."

"These are our few seasons. Let us live them as purely as we can, in the present."

"I have come to the creek - in the middle of the day, to feel the delicate gathering of heat, real sun's heat, in the air, and to watch new water come down the creek. Don't expect more than this, and a mental ramble."

"The trees especially seem to bespeak a generosity of spirit. I suspect that the real moral thinkers end up, wherever the may start, in botany. We know nothing for certain, but we seem to see that the world turns upon growing, grows towards growing, and growing green and clean."

"Stone cities rise, spread, and crumble, like patches of alpine blossoms that flourish for a day an inch above the permafrost, that iced earth no root can suck, and wither in an hour. New cities appear, and rivers sift silt onto their rooftops; more cities emerge and spread in lobes like lichen on rock. The great human figures of history, those intricate, spirited tissues that roamed the earth's surface, are a wavering blur whose split second in the light was too brief an exposure to field any image but the hunched, shadowless figures of ghosts. The great hers of caribou pour into the valleys like slag, and trickle back, and pour, a brown fluid. Slow it down more, come closer still. A dot appears, a flesh-flake. It swells like a balloon; it moves, circle, slows, an vanishes. This is your life."

"... freedom grew the beauties and the horrors from the same live branch."

"Creation itself was the fall, a burst into the thorny beauty of the real."

"Here was a new light on the intricate texture of things in the world, the actual plot of the present moment in time after the fall: the way we the living are nibbled and nibbling - not held aloft on a cloud in the air but bumbling pitted and scarred and broken through a frayed and beautiful land."

Home Office

2009-09-14T05:31:00.000-07:00

Big photos on section covers are fun. These photos of a woman who runs a gym out of her apartment ran Sunday, September 13 in the Real Estate section of the NY Times.

Manolo Blahnik at NYC Fashion Night Out

2009-09-11T10:41:00.001-07:00

I give you... Mr. Manolo Blahnik:

Garden & Gun kayak builder

2009-07-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

Was going through videos on Garden & Gun Magazine - coolest magazine name ever - and came across this video of a kayak builder in Cypress, Florida.

For all you bluegrass fans out there

2009-07-28T06:22:00.000-07:00

Oxford American Magazine has started a video series on the American South called SoLost and its first episode, Pickin' in Mountain View, Arkansas, is pretty stellar. Looks like it may've been shot on a 5D.

How do I get these assignments?!

Unbelievable Music Video

2009-07-25T06:34:00.000-07:00

I'm not the biggest coldplay fan, but check this out - http://www.coldplay.com/videostrawberry.php

Peasant Opera (Slideshow!)

2009-07-23T12:50:00.001-07:00

My photos of Bela Pinter's 'Peasant Opera' at Lincoln Center ran in The New York Times and as an online slideshow on Thursday, July 23.

Trumpetist Nils Petter Molvaer

2009-07-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

This story ran in The New York Times on Friday, June 19. Molvaer played at Le Poisson Rouge in Greenwich Village - funky trumpet player who mixes his music on his computer as he's playing.

I've heard that the previous tenant in the same club wouldn't let a young Bob Dylan play there, so he slept behind the stage until they gave him a gig.

Irving Picard & Madoff Claims Team

2009-06-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

On May 20th, I sat in on a meeting of Mr. Irving Picard and his legal team, who are deciding who will be paid, who won't, and who has to pay back money as claims flow in from thousands of Madoff victims.

SEM Ensemble at Alice Tully Hall

2009-05-15T09:17:00.001-07:00

I photographed SEM Ensemble for the NY Times at Alice Tully Hall on May 6. I was allowed to shoot from balcony positions inside the hall and got some new angles on the stage.

Chanticleer Men's Choir

2009-05-13T06:56:00.000-07:00

Called "the world’s reigning male chorus," by the New Yorker magazine, and named 2008 Ensemble of the Year by Musical America, I photographed Chanticleer at the Met for the NY Times on April 15. They never ran in the paper because of space limitations, but I like them, so here they are.

Carbon Cap & Dividend Program

2009-05-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

An interesting article in Good Magazine about a Carbon Cap & Dividend Program instead of a Cap & Trade System - http://www.good.is/post/the-third-way-carbon-cap-and-dividend/

Streak To Win

2009-05-01T06:17:00.001-07:00

A friend of a friend filmed an amazing documentary about his "varsity streaking team" at Hamilton College. They are releasing the project in web episodes. Absolutely hilarious. Check it out - http://www.streaktowin.com/

Chris Mann 4/22 Citrine Show

2009-04-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.chrismannmusic.com/

disclaimer: the above photo is a combination of two frames

Take-Away Shows

2009-04-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

Vincent Moon shoots entire music videos in one take. He calls them take-away shows. Check out the article in Good Magazine:

http://www.good.is/post/playing-in-temporary-areas/

Definitely watch the YouTube videos at the end.

Nazi Seized Painting Returned

2009-04-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

A 17th-century painting that was confiscated from its owner, a Jewish art dealer in Germany, on orders of the Nazis before World War II was turned over to his estate on Tuesday in a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan.

Women and Math

2009-04-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

My photo of Allanah Thomas teaching low-income women math skills ran in The New York Times on Sunday, April 19.

Obama Magazines

2009-04-20T09:01:00.001-07:00

An observation from the streets of New York City.

Home Safes

2009-03-16T09:59:00.001-07:00

My photo of people shopping for home safes ran in The New York Times on Saturday, March 7, 2009.

Three Curators

2009-03-10T05:49:00.000-07:00

My photo of three young curators from the New Museum of Contemporary Art ran in The New York Times on Sunday, March 8, 2009.

Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen

2009-03-09T05:24:00.000-07:00

My photo of conductor Paavo Jarvi leading Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen at Alice Tully Hall ran in The New York Times on Tuesday, March 3, 2009.

NYC's Vanishing Manual Elevator Operators

2009-03-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

My portrait of Andre Licursi, one of New York City's last manual elevator operators, ran in The New York Times on Sunday, March 1, 2009.

Cabaret School

2009-03-04T06:39:00.000-08:00

I had a slideshow of images as part of an article on The Singing Experience cabaret school in The New York Times on Saturday, February 28, 2009.

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

2009-03-02T09:19:00.001-08:00

I just finished reading Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner after it was recommended by a friend, Jay Schoenberger, who fancies himself a hippy-redneck-warrior-poet. It's a timely read and an interesting contrast to Revolutionary Road, which I also just finished.

Some choice passages from Crossing to Safety:

"For a minute I stand listening to her breathing, wondering if I dare go out and leave her. But she is deeply asleep, and should stay that way for a while. No one is going to be coming around at this hour. This early piece of the morning is mine."

"There is was, there it is, the place where during the best time of our lives friendship had its home and happiness its headquarters."

"We all hoped, in whatever way our capacities permitted, to define and illustrate the worthy life."

"In a way, it is beautiful to be young and hard up. With the right wife, and I had her, deprivation becomes a game."

"I don't know about you, but Sid and I think a little city like this, with a good university in it, is the real flowering of the American dream. Don't you feel it? It might have felt like this in Florence in the early fifteenth century, just before the big explosion of art and science and discovery. We want to settle in, and make ourselves as useful as we can, and help it grow, and grow ourselves. We're determined to give it our absolute best. Before we're all done with it, let's make Madison a place of pilgrimage!"

"I believe that most people have some degree of talent for something - forms, colors, words, sounds. Talent lies around in us like kindling waiting for a match, but some people, just as gifted as others, are less lucky. Fate never drops a match on them. The times are wrong, or their health is poor, or their energy low, or their obligations too many. Something."

"Don't extend any invitations you don't want accepted, Sally says. It's dangerous to wave raw meat around tigers."

"There sit our two podded wives close together on the couch, whispering and intimate, two months away, rosy with the heat of indoors. Coming from the kitchen bringing the rum bottle and the teakettle for a fresh round of drinks, I see them there, and think how in those two women four hearts are beating, and it awes me."

"Battell Pond is out of a Hudson River School painting, uniting the philosophical-contemplative with the pastoral-picturesque."

"Unconsidered, merely indulged, ambition becomes a vice; it can turn a man into a machine that knows nothing but how to run. Considered, it can be something else - pathway to the stars, maybe."

"But what the memory brings back from there is not politics, or the meagerness of living on a hundred and fifty dollars a month, or even the writing I was doing, but the details of friendship - parties, picnics, walks, midnight conversations, glimpses from the occasional unencumbered hours."

"Yet now, having held in grief and resentment, and evaded thinking too much about the episode that changed my life with the finality of an axe, here I am exalted by having made use of it, by having spilled my guts in public. We are strange creatures, and writers are stranger creatures than most."

"How do you make a book that anyone will read out of lives as quiet as these? Where are the things that novelists seize upon and readers expect? Where is the high life, the conspicuous waste, the violence, the kinky sex, the death wish? Where are the suburban infidelities, the promiscuities, the convulsive divorces, the alcohol, the drugs, the lost weekends? Where are the hatreds, the political ambitions, the lust for power? Where are speed, noise, ugliness, everything that makes us who we are and makes us recognize ourselves in fiction?"

"Youth hasn't got anything to do with chronological age. It's times of hope and happiness."

Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center

2009-03-02T05:52:00.000-08:00

My photo of the new Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center ran in The New York Times on Thursday, February 26, 2009.

Jazz Musician Benny Golson

2009-02-27T05:51:00.000-08:00

My photo of jazz musician Benny Golson ran in The New York Times on Friday, February 6, 2009.

Painter Cordula Volkening

2009-02-17T05:15:00.000-08:00

My photo of painter Cordula Volkening, who suffers from brain cancer and is painting furiously to leave her children money before she passes away, ran in The New York Times on Thursday, February 12, 2009.

Jazz Singer Tony Desare

2009-02-12T05:44:00.001-08:00

My photo of jazz singer Tony Desare ran in The New York Times' The Week in Culture Pictures for February 6, 2009.

Nukha Khatseiv, former Chechnyan rebel

2009-02-02T06:03:00.001-08:00

My photo of former Chechnyan rebel Nukha Khatseiv ran in The New York Times Monday January 26, 2009.

Nukha was a rebel for ten years before a head injury forced him to quit fighting and seek refuge. He traveled across Ukraine, Austria, Germany, France, England, and Greece before stowing away on a ship to Mexico, crossing overland illegally into the U.S., making his way to New York City, and eventually gaining asylum.

In the Times story, he raises an interesting question for us all to consider regarding his being labeled a terrorist by the Russian government: "Russians killed my relatives, friends, and broke my life. Why am I a terrorist when you kill my family?"

Armertine Robinson

2009-01-30T08:18:00.000-08:00

My photos of Armertine Robinson and her husband, Douglas, ran in The New York Times on January 23, 2009.

Armertine and her husband Douglas are going to lose income protection that affords them home healthcare under new federal legislation. Armertine is likely going to be forced into a nursing home to protect their families' assets.

Jewish Home Lifecare contacted me after the article was released and will be using the image to lobby state officials to fight the impending legislation.

Disclaimer: Photoshop was used heavily in the creation of the third image in this gallery.

America: In A New Light

2009-01-28T04:34:00.000-08:00

There were a lot of people on The National Mall that day. Two million. And yet I'll never forget the relative order with which they waited: for hours, with no ropes, no arrows, no official line minders. Just thousands of people standing one behind the other, patiently waiting their turn. Those who tried to cut were booed loudly. "Obama can see you!" I yelled at one cheat. Obama's New Era of Responsibility was already taking shape.

Once the proceedings were underway, the number of times that the inaugural ceremony called for those present to "please be seated" was a constant reminder that this is not an event typically put on for the standing masses. And yet when Obama spoke, he spoke to all of us.

"For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies."

It was cold in Washington on January 20, 2009. As Obama thrilled the crowd ("... know this America, they will be met!"), the clapping of two million gloved hands sounded less like applause and more like an enormous herd thundering in a new direction.

The following portraits were taken in Washington D.C. the day before and the day of the inauguration. I asked my subjects a simple question: What does Barack Obama's election mean to you?

The weather outside on the ride down had been bleak: temperatures in the twenties, snowy. Gusts of wind had battered our bus across multiple lanes as we rolled down the New Jersey Turnpike. The return trip was different: same landscape, same towns, but under fairer skies. So what does Barack Obama's election mean to me? It means America still, but in a new light.

The following is a selection of images from this project.

Illegal Wedding

2009-01-22T19:10:00.000-08:00

Jonathan Self and Marianne Van Pelt spontaneously (and illegaly) convened their wedding ceremony in Grand Central Terminal at 4:32 just east of the information booth, the exact place and time where they'd first met years before. My photos ran in The New York Times Sunday, January 11.

95-Year-Old Ruth Taube

2009-01-14T06:56:00.000-08:00

My photo of 95 year old Ruth Taube ran in The New York Times Saturday, January 10.

Neediest Fund Case Rene Blas

2009-01-12T04:41:00.000-08:00

My photo of inspiring young Rene Blas ran in The New York Times December 29 and was republished on Fox News the same day. Even Fox News has a heart around the holidays!

Morris Park Community Patrol

2008-12-31T05:01:00.000-08:00

My photos of the Morris Park Community Patrol ran in The New York Times December 28.

Muslim Girl Praying in Synagogue

2008-12-28T08:14:00.000-08:00

My photos of Muslim Indonesian exchange student Dinar Puspita praying at a Bronx synagogue ran in The New York Times December 7. I was allowed to photograph all aspects of her ritual except the act of praying.

JB's photos of Simon Green singing Noel Coward on nytimes.com

2008-12-19T14:03:00.000-08:00

JB's photos of McFadden's Bar on nytimes.com

2008-12-18T05:23:00.000-08:00

My photos of McFadden's Bar ran in The New York Times on Monday, December 15th.

JB NY Times Neediest Case Crystal Perez

2008-12-15T05:10:00.000-08:00

My photos of NY Times Neediest Case Fund recipient Crystal Ramirez ran in the newspaper on Friday, December 12 and as part of a multimedia piece.

Street Recycler

2008-12-11T07:38:00.001-08:00

I saw this guy collecting recycling outside apartment buildings on 238th Street while walking back to the subway after a New York Times assignment on Wednesday, December 3rd.

He was deaf and dumb, so I asked him if I could take his picture by typing a text message into my cell phone and showing him the screen. He let me know it was okay by pulling a Daily News out of his recycling and giving me a big smile.

Another nearby recycler speculated that this guy's take was worth more than $100, though he was at a loss for how the guy was going to transport his huge load.

Recycling is a full-time job and recyclers typically know the superintendents at the buildings where they collect cans and bottles. In this way, there are well-established informal territories for collection. A recycler typically makes between $200-$300 a week. This was an atypically good day as people consume more and create more recycling during the holidays.

Turkey Day shoot for The New York Times

2008-12-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

Chris Mann pt II

2008-11-26T10:42:00.000-08:00

New photos of Sony recording artist Chris Mann from his rehearsal and subsequent performance at the Cutting Room in NYC on November 10th.

Nytimes.com Lead Image

2008-11-18T04:37:00.000-08:00

On Friday I had the lead image on nytimes.com. It was replaced after a few hours by a story on how people are eating more spam in the down economy, but it was there!

Hope in the Streets of New York

2008-11-04T21:58:00.000-08:00

NEWS: go to http://www.lastexitmag.com for a recently published photo essay from this blog post

My Bloomberg assignment was to shoot a Young Republicans party at 7pm, a Young Democrats party at 8:30 pm and file my pictures by 11. The Young Republicans party was predictably dour and square and the Young Democrats event was not surprisingly raucous and hip. I dashed to a Starbucks at 10:15 and left only as they were closing up shop.

I walked onto the streets of Times Square just as the clock struck midnight. Times Square itself was packed beyond my ability to even enter. So I turned east on 46th St, hoping to walk across to a less crowded avenue and catch a cab back to Gramercy. It had been a long day.

As I walked down the street, I saw small crowds gathering around cars that had pulled over to the side. The car owners had their windows and sun roofs open and were blasting Obama's acceptance speech. Barack's voice, projected from so many car stereos, echoed off the office buildings. I stopped alongside a silver BMW owned by a black couple who were smiling as they listened.

A homeless black man approached the front of the car, lay an American flag down on the street, knelt and began kissing it, tears streaming down his face. The man was visibly drunk, and just as the crowd was preparing to shoo him out of the street, a young Latino man put his arm around him and declared, "Respect this man! He has waited a long time for this!" The couple in the BMW waited patiently.

Most photographers would criticize me for this, but I didn't shoot any photos of that scene. For better or worse, I just decided to be fully present for myself and soak in the moment.

I continued east before hailing a cab on Sixth Avenue. I implored the cabbie to turn up the radio as soon as I got in. Obama's speech was ending. The cabbie and I traded "Amen!" and "That's Right!" from the back seat to the front as President Elect Barack addressed the nation.

When the speech ended, I asked the cabbie his name. "Mamadou". Mamadou was born in Guinea. He immediately informed that I would not be paying the fare. "I even just took a man to New Jersey and didn't let him pay either. This is the greatest country on earth that you could elect a black man president! You know, a president never make me cry before in my life. It is my honor to drive you Americans tonight."

The windows down, Mamadou and I rode on in quiet with satisfied grins as the radio reported a major celebration underway in Harlem.

Sony recording artist Chris Mann in studio

2008-11-04T06:03:00.001-08:00

Chris-

So as I'm riding the bus to come shoot you in the studio the other day, I'm reading this photography article about Fidel Castro and his thoughts on photography.

He said, "We are very sorry that we didn't have a photographer with us during the revolutionary war or during the first years of struggle, while we were underground... There are a few pictures of those days, but there should have been more. We would now be able to write the history of our revolution with those pictures alone. On those occasions, as on so many others, it is only after time passes that people realize that they have been through historical moments that will never be repeated, and that the memory fades. We must preserve these moments through photography."

And while we're no socialist revolutionaries, you get the point. Its the early days that are interesting! Let's keep doing this whenever we get the chance. Next shoot: your NYC show?

JB

Nuru Project and Acumen Fund

2008-10-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you about Nuru Project.

Nuru Project leverages photography as an agent for social change in the developing world through the sale of donated photographs at gallery exhibitions. Revenue from the sale of each print at a Nuru Project gallery event goes back to a worthy organization operating in the country where the photograph was taken, thus connecting photographer, gallery go-er, and subject in a unique cycle.

Last night, Chris, Daniel, Omri, and I (all Nuru Project Founders) attended the kickoff event for Young Professionals for Acumen Fund at Saks Fifth Avenue.

For those unfamiliar, Acumen Fund is amazing. They describe themselves as "a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solves the problems of poverty. Acumen Fund's investments focus on delivering affordable, critical goods and services - like health, water, housing and evergy - through innovative, market-oriented approaches."

The Young Professionals for Acumen Fund is "a growing community of over 200 young professionals who seek to support Aumen Fund's mission of transformative business to solve the probelms of poverty in the developing world."

It's all very interesting stuff and we were honored to be invited by Acumen's Molly Alexander. Wine tasting following brief addresses by John Coatsworth, Dean at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, and by Acumen Fund Fellow Catherine Casey. Catherine related her experiences working in Nairobi, Kenya with Sustainable Healthcare Foundation, a micro-franchise healthcare and drug distribution chain, a story that resonated with us at Nuru Project as our first show back in February was in response to the post-election violence in Kenya.

We at Nuru hope to tap the level of excitement that we witnessed last night among such a dynamic group of young people focused around working for change for the world's poor. And we look forward to working directly with Acumen in future.

So come out on Nov 20th at 6pm at DCTV in TriBeCa and join us!

First Blog Posting

2008-10-30T12:16:00.001-07:00

There it is. I am officially a blogger.

Stay tuned...