This is how my passion for photography began...

My grandfather Ben, on my mother’s side of the family, loved cutting photos out of magazines and collecting images that inspired him. My dad's father Harry, used to love taking movies and passed that love down to my father. Dad was always taking movies with his 16mm movie camera of my mother Millie, my brother Gary, and me as we were growing up. Maybe it was through all of them that I inherited a little bit of this love for photography.

For me, this love for photography started as an obsession with the popular 60’s ABC television soap “Dark Shadows.” I made frequent train rides from the Bronx to Manhattan to get to the small studio where Dark Shadows was filmed. I would arrive at the studio early in the morning and take pictures of the actors and actresses as they arrived for morning rehearsals of the day’s episode. After a short while I became a familiar face and was invited behind the scenes, camera in hand, to experience the daily creation of the popular gothic soap opera. The phenomenon that had housewives glued to their seats and kids running home from school to catch the daily adventures of the Collins Clan. Also had my father complaining about the cost of film and flashcubes, which accompanied my Kodak 126 Instamatic camera.

The series that began in the sixties, saw its end in the seventies, and so ended my relationship with the confines of New York. At this time, as a young teenager, I also had a strong interest in spirituality, and would read books about the North American Indians and wise holy men from the east. I left New York to explore these ideas that were inspiring me. Traveling across the country with a few friends, our car broke down in Wyoming. We decided to stay and rented an apartment next to an Indian Reservation, where I was reminded of the books that inspired me about the Indian way of life and what had originally inspired my adventure out west.

As my journey continued I hitch hiked around the country and crossed the path of some Hare Krishna devotees. I remembered seeing the Hare Krishna’s chanting on the street corners in New York as a young teenager. They told me that if I attended their early morning program at the temple, I could have a place to stay for the night. They seemed to have a certain peace about them that attracted me to their spiritual life and their devotion to Krishna. As time went on, many spiritual teachers crossed my path and I found myself drawn to the teachings of eastern philosophy. I spent a great deal of my time in the company of Hindu Gurus and Buddhist monks who had traveled from India with their messages of hope. It was during this time that I began taking photos of things that inspired me along the way.

After several years of traveling around Mexico and Central America, I made my way back to the states and resurfaced in California. I ran into a friend who told me about a teacher he wanted me to meet from northern India who was living in Santa Cruz, a yogi named Baba Hari Dass. Babaji, as we called him, was a monk who had taken a vow of silence and communicated by writing on a chalkboard. The experience with Baba Hari Dass was profound and deepened my understanding of spirituality. Although strengthened by the opportunity to be in the presence of such a great soul, I found myself drawn to explore a part of myself apart from the discipline of spiritual life.

Detoured from my spiritual path for a moment, I packed up and moved to San Francisco in the early-eighties adding another unique chapter to my journey. After several years in San Francisco, my attention turned once again to the cult-like re-emergence of “Dark Shadows” which was about to be syndicated across the nation after 15 years of being off the air. I caught the series when it premiered and saw that at the end of the show, after the credits, there was a list of fan clubs and an announcement of an upcoming Dark Shadow’s Convention. Simultaneously, my family, still living in New York, was planning a trip to visit me. Knowing that Dark Shadow’s was back on the air, I asked them to bring my collection of photos and memorabilia that I had stored in their home years before.

I started reproducing the photos that I had taken some 15 years earlier and attended one of the upcoming conventions. Over the course of the weekend, I sold out of all of the photos I had reproduced. I was amazed to see that after all these years, these photos had value and that there was a big demand for them. There was a convention the following year and since I did so well at the first, I decided to reproduce a larger quantity of photos. Throughout the years I’ve been attending these festivals and expanding my selection of photos and memorabilia. Photos from my archives were also contributed for various projects related to the series. My pictures appeared on album covers, video boxes and many photos were used in publications related to the show.

Realizing the demand for the photos of the past, I decided to see if current photos would have the same appeal. I attended yearly conventions and continued to photograph the actors and actresses just like I did when I was a kid. A few of the actors and actresses asked me to take pictures for their press books and for promotional use. One of the actresses, who started a publishing company, used many of my photos for several of her books dedicated to the Dark Shadows series. Who new that after so many years the show I loved as a kid would make such a big come back with a whole new generation of fans. I had no idea that my passion of the sixties would soon launch a career in photography in the late eighties.

After moving to Los Angeles, I started working with a magazine company as a Sales Executive, selling advertising space. Because of my photography background, when I wasn‘t selling, I worked closely with the editorial staff. This opened the door to cover news stories and take pictures of celebrities who had lent their names to the social and health issues of the time. Before too long I was attending many celebrity events such as the Oscars, The Golden Globes, movie premiers and humanitarian functions.

Becoming a professional in my field, I began shooting for an agency in Europe that syndicated my photos to European magazines and newspapers. I began doing freelance work contacting photo editors of U.S. Magazines to provide photo images for news stories. My freelance work also included relationships with PR firms that represented various celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Cruise and Barbara Streisand to name a few.

Although I was quite successful in that arena, I began to focus more on subject matters that personally inspired and motivated me. Like many of us, I went through the usual ups and downs in my personal life. But now, in my sober years, given a second chance at life, I had the opportunity to redirect my passion for photography, only capturing those images that captured me spiritually.

Last year I had the opportunity to travel throughout India. One of the first places I traveled to was a place called Navadwip, a remote village several hours north of Calcutta. There was a large festival there and many people from western countries attended. Upon arriving at the temple where my spiritual teacher Srila Narayana Maharaja was staying, I offered flowers to him, which is a custom in India when you greet a holy person. The first thing he asked me was “where are you traveling to after the festival?” I told him about my plans to travel to northern India, and in mid sentence, he interrupted me and told me that he wanted me to travel north and go directly to a place called Vrindavana to take photos.

Vrindavana is a very special and holy place where Lord Krishna’s past times took place. In this ancient and holy place there are 5000 temples to Lord Krishna. It was quite an honor to have my Guru instruct me to travel there to photograph the life style and spirit of Vrindavana. He wanted me to take these photos for a series of coffee table books which would reveal to the western world the wonders of this forgotten world and the past times of Radha and Krishna. Before I was requested to go and to take these photos, I already had my camera in hand capturing many things along the way. I wanted to take pictures of my journey and I was preparing to do a book of my own.

Prior to going to India I was working on several photo projects related to publications and books that my Guru was translating. So upon going to India I knew I would be taking photos documenting the festival, and my Guru‘s activities. I would often travel with him as he toured through the United States preaching his mission. From the very first time that I met him I was photographing him and the festivals he attended. After returning from India I was with him once again in the U.S. I did several photo shoots with him for formal pictures, which were to appear in the front of the next publications that he was working on.

Returning to the U.S., everybody that I had shared my photos with had encouraged me and told me that I should to something with them. Even when I went to visit my father on his eightieth birthday, he was eager to see the pictures I had taken on my journeys through India. And like a small boy he would sit and go through hundreds of photos, interested in all of them. He told me that if I didn’t so something with these photographs, it would be a crime. I kind of felt he was right as I felt these photos was some of my best work. And I too felt that the images should be shared.

An artist is always eager to share his work and what he loves to do with others. This site is a way to share a part of my love for photography with so many people, and also a way to reveal a part of myself to the people who are meaningful in my life. The photo exhibit I am currently working on will give me an opportunity to share how eastern culture has inspired my life. I hope it will also shed some light on the spiritual wealth that India has to offer us through the practice of yoga, meditation, and a profound ancient philosophy. The founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada who came to the west in the 60's, and now my guru, Srila Narayana Maharaja, is traveling to western countries at the advanced age of eighty-four, preaching and revealing this philosophy to the western world. If I can assist him in some small way with his mission, then I am pleased. I feel that my upcoming photo exhibit will shed some light on this subject matter, and also reveal the light, which is within each and every one of us.

God Bless.
Jay