Master Profiles: Jeff Mermelstein

* “Master Profiles” is a series profiling all the great photographers of uncontrolled life. Unlike the rest of the blog, I’m doing these in a straight profile format to make it easy for quick access to facts, quotes and knowledge on all the masters. I’ll also group them together here every time I add a new one.

Profile:

Jeff Mermelstein (1957-Present)

American photographer known for his quirky, absurdist and humorous photos of human idiosyncracy in New York City.

Background:

Born: August 31, 1957 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Jeff Mermelstein’s parents were Holocaust survivors who immigrated to the United States in 1947. He started taking photographs at the age of 13 after being gifted a camera for his Bar Mitzvah. Since a young age, Jeff had a strong interest in colors and he fell in love with color film early in his pursuit of photography.

He studied at Rutgers College and the International Center of Photography. Early on, when visiting to MOMA, he saw a photograph by Henry Wessel (Santa Barbara, 1977), which influenced him greatly. During an internship at ICP in 1980, he was exposed to the work of Garry Winogrand, Lee Friendlander, Diane Arbus, William Eggleston and others, which helped further his interest in street photography that has continued ever since.

In 1983, he received a photo assignment with GEO Magazine to photograph animal actors, which became the cover story. From there, he started receiving more and more assignments for publications including LIFE, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Magazine. In his off time, though, he focused on his personal photography in the streets of New York City.

Known for his quirky photographs of life and people in New York City, his work showcases moments of human idiosyncrasy and behavior. Almost all of Jeff’s work has come from the New York streets that he’s dedicated his life to photographing as much as any photographer. A unique, absurdist vision of the street and New York spanning the past four decades with a good mix of humor that he has become famous for.

In 1991, he received the Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer’s Fellowship, and in 1999 he won the European Publishers Award for Photography, which resulted in the publication of his first book SideWalk (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 1999).

For the past few years, Jeff has made photos exclusively with a phone. Although polarizing, his work stealthily photographing people’s text conversations gained much interest and he recently released a book of New York street images all taken with an iPhone titled “Hardened.” Active on instagram, you can follow along as he shares many of the day-to-day photos and videos he takes with his phone.

Mermelstein has taught at the International Center of Photography since 1988 and his works are held by institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago; the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House; and the New York Public Library.

Style:

The absurd, human idiosyncrasy
Funny, sense of humor
Candid life, behavior and moments from New York City

Gear:

Camera: Leica M-P / Lens: 35mm f1.4 Summilux / Film: Fujicolor Superia (Now: iPhone)

Mermelstein has been most known to shoot with a Leica M-P rangefinder loaded with Fujicolor Superia and a 35mm f1.4 Summilux lens, but has also shot with a Canon. The last few years he has focused on shooting exclusively with his iphone camera.

Quotes:

“I find it particularly exciting when a picture evokes anything near that word, ‘mystery'”

“When I have tried black and white and got a good picture I often wished it were in color. Since day one color, for me, has been like M & Ms and T.V. We see in color.”

“Working in color is an additional ingredient in the juggling act of making an interesting photograph.”

“Street photography is an important documentation of our time. Some of the most significant images in any art medium in the last 150 years have been made in the street by people like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Diane Arbus and Robert Frank. If that’s discouraged, in the long term it will be a substantial loss.”

Inspirations:

Some of the photographers Jeff has named as his biggest influences: Garry Winogrand, Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, William Eggleston, Henry Wessel, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Louis Faurer, and Weegee.