Miami based photographer Joshua Prezant was recetly contracted to photograph art collectors and hoteliers Donald and Mera Rubell at their 45,000 square-foot museum and home.  The Miami art powerhouse couple are opening a new museum in Washington, DC. and we were brought in to photograph them with some of their vast art collection in the background.  The couple was great to work with and in the small window of time we had with them we were able to make an assortment of images that ended up being used by both the Miami Herald and The Washington Post.

Each paper had access to the same images and each chose different images and produced vastly different layouts.  It is great to see the different approaches that the two papers took with the picture selections and the layouts. Not sure  their is a favorite, but just happy that a bunch of teh images got used and that each publication did a great job displaying the images.

See if you have a favorite:

Washington Post

Miami Herald front

Miami Herald inside

One of the best things about what I do is the fact that I get to meet amazing people from all walks of life. One recent amazing person I met and photographed was 19-year-old Danell Leyva.  He is a Miami based gymnast looking to gold at the 2012 Olympics.  That alone would have been a great story.  However, Danell’s story is much more interesting…as The Washington Post’s Amy Shipley showed in her September 14th sports front page article about Leyva and his path from a sickly boy in Cuba to a top gymnist.

The photo shoot took place at the gym where Danell trains, which is also the gym that his parents own. As I walked into the huge warehouse that housed Universal Gymnastics I was amazed to see a group of kids from 5- year-old to 17- year-old doing the most amazing things with their bodies on an assortment of gymnastic apparatices.

The assignmnet from the Washington Post called for a family portrait of Danell with his mom and stepfather. Danell parents were happy to be pulled away from their coaching duties for a few minutes for the photoshoot with Danell. Being that Danell was doing an Iron Cross, a difficult gymnatic move on the rings we had a limited amount of time to shoot while he was in position.  But Joshua Prezant Photography “stuck” the shot and everyone was happy.  I wish Danell the best of luck in making the 2012 olympics and hopefully bringing home gold for the USA.

Danell Leyva © Joshua Prezant 2011

The spread

www.joshuaprezant.com

Today I got a e-mail letting me know that a child I photographed for the Heart Gallery was recently permanently adopted.

The e-mail:

Dear Joshua, last September you too a Heart Gallery picture of Trenton, one of our children who is so medically complex the only placement we had for him was a nursing home a thousand miles from his home.  You took a beautiful picture and thanks to your help, Trenton was placed with his forever family last week.  Below are some pictures his new mom sent.  The pictures are not as good as yours but I am sure you will agree, the quality of his life has certainly improved!!!!   Thank you again for your help. Peggy

For several year now I have photographed children for the Heart Gallery in Miami and around South Florida.  It is something I look forward to every year.  Most of the time the children I photograph are older children that are normally harder to adopt.  But with Trenton, he was what many consider to be the “unadoptable” because of his severe medical conditions.

Having a photo make it to the cover of a magzine or seeing your advertising photo on a bus bench or billboard is great…. But nothing beats hearing the great news that one of the kids you photographed for the heart gallery has been placed with a loving family!  G-d bless the family that adopted Trenton.

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Over the year Joshua Prezant Photography has done many assignments for publications based in Britian.  And the one thing that can always be counted on from these shoot is that I will meet intersting people from all walks of life and all walks of careers.  This shoot in Palm Beach, Florida for The Guardian was no exception.

Author Diane Ackerman, who most recetly wrote, ONE HUNDRED NAMES FOR LOVE , was a real delight to spend time with.  The book deals with Ackerman’s struggles after her husband, Author Paul West,  suffered a massive stroke and her story of helping her husband relearn language.

Author Diane Ackerman by Miami Photographer Joshua Prezant

RIP DON.

I am fortunate to get to photograph the music giants of today often.  However, it is much more rare that I get to photograph the legends of yesterday. One legend that I was able photograph was The Man with the Golden Ear: Don Kirshner.  Being a bit too young to have been a fan of The Archies,  The Monkees or Bobby Darin in there day, I became a fan while in the back seat of my parents car as we drove all over South Florida listening to  FM 102.7 the oldies.  I can still see myself seeing along to “ I’m a believer.”

I photographed Mr. Kirshner near his home in Boca Raton a few year back for a story that ran in the Washington Post.  I remember him being a real pleasure and easy to photograph.  In between setup he filled the time with some amazing stories from his days in the music industry. Even in his 7o’s he was full of spunk!!!  RIP.

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What do you get when you photograph a group of people that have been having their whole lives filmed for years……Great actors in a sad real life drama!

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Joshua Prezant Photography was contracted to take portraits and behind the scene photographs of the Entire Hogan Family as they entered into the 2nd season of VH1’s #1 reality show Hogan Knows Best being filmed in Miami Beach.

Little did I know that only a few months later the family that appeared happy and together, and in love in my images would turn into a huge mess….

Nick Bollea, Hogan’s son, was arrested and sentenced to 8 months of jail for charges of felony reckless driving stemming from a accident in Clearwater, Florida where he flipped his yellow Toyota on a wet road and collided with a palm tree, a crash so serious that his passenger John Graziano will need to be cared for in a nursing home for the rest of his life.

Terry ( hulk) and his wife of of over 24 years divorced in a very nasty and public battle that dragged on for almost 2 years.

Although I saw the stresses of being filmed 24-7 and having to always be “ON” I had no idea what was to come and that the marriage was about to end.

The family was wonderful to photograph. With  the help of my great assistant Noelle we were able to photograph several great family portraits as well as an array of individual portraits in a short amount of time. The crew doing the filming on the show were a pleasure to work with as well.  We were able to work smoothly and in synch with them to get the images we need while not interfering with the actual tapping of the show.  ***And no, you will not find Joshua Prezant in any of the episodes of the show.  I declined to sign a release to be featured in the show.

I wish the Hogan family well and hope that better, happier, and more loving time are are ahead for them all.

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