Shirt, Tie and (Slim) Pants

In 1979, I was hired as an editorial assistant at Prentice-Hall, Book Project Division, an office specializing in acquiring, editing, producing and publishing major college textbooks. It was located on 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. In 1981, I was promoted to Permissions Editor, which involved acquiring copyright permissions for images and text that appeared in books I wore a tie during the day and occasionally I changed the style in which I wore my facial hair. At different times it was a beard, a mustache or a goatee.

At the same time, outside of the office I was a freelance photojournalist providing images to Prentice-Hall for publication in books such as Sociology, Psychology, Economics, American Government, and many more. I captured images of young people and the elderly, protests and demonstrations, sports and recreation, and finance and business including images inside the New York and American Stock Exchanges. When I was on my own time, my clothing choices were very different, usually jeans and t-shirts or cutoff shorts in the summer.

Thus I had two separate careers at the same time. I was a full-time employee and a freelance contributor.

Sometimes I met my girlfriend Loretta, who also worked in Midtown, for lunch in Bryant Park next to the main building of the New York Public Library. I often had my camera with me and occasionally we made a visual record of those days. The photo above was taken during one of those times (when the pants I wore were were too tight in a few wrong places).

In 1983, I left my job at Prentice-Hall and became a full-time freelance photographer.

________

1P8207