Eli Reed

Eli Reed was born in Linden, New Jersey in 1946. He started photography as a freelancer in 1970 then became a staff photographer for the Middletown Times Herald Record (1977) , the Detroit News (1978) and the San Francisco Examiner (1980). At one point in the middle 1980's Reed was contributing photographer for the Washington Post Sunday Magazine.

Reed attracted Magnum's attention in the fall of 1982 with his work from El Salvador, Guatemala and the other countries of Central America. In June of 1983 he joined Magnum as a nominee becoming a member in 1988.

Reed's specific strength lies in his strong empathy, his ability to get close to subjects that are often chosen for emotional as well as intellectual reasons, his capacity to see the broader picture and put his images into a historical context. These qualities are obvious in some of his special reports such as a series on Central America (1982), his long-term study on Beirut (1983-1987), his coverage of the ousting of Baby Doc Duvalier in Haiti (1986), his work on the US military action against Noriega in Panama (1989), his special report on the Walled City in Hong Kong, and his documentation of the black experience in America and Africa (1997).

In 1988, Reed photographed the effects of poverty for an essay which became the emotional core of the film documentary America's Children, "Poorest in the Land of Plenty", narrated by Maya Angelou. Later on Reed went on working as a stills and specials photographer for a number of major motion pictures, working with Directors Robert Altman and John Singleton among others. The 1992 video documentary "Getting Out" on Detroit Gangs that he directed was shown at New York's Film Festival (1993) and was honored by the 1996 Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame International film and Video Competition in the documentary category.

Reed's reports on the Crown Heights riots and the Million Man March have been included in what is probably his most comprehensive study to date, a book on the lives of African-Americans that spans the 1970s through the end of the 1990s. Black in America, his long-term look at both the positive and negative experience of black Americans, where Reed showed that racism is very far from being extinguished.

Reed, who has lectured and taught extensively, has received numerous awards for his work including the runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize (1981), the Mark Twain Associated press Award (1981), the Overseas Press Club Award (1983), the Nikon World Understanding Award (1983), the Leica Medal of Excellence (1988), World Press (1988), Kodak's World Image Award for Fine Art Photography (1992)
and the W. Eugene Smith Grant in Documentary Photography (1992).

His books include:
Homeless in America, 1987
Beirut: City of Regrets, 1988
Poetic Justice, Film Making South Central Style, 1993
Black in America, 1997

To see his work:
www.magnumphotos.com