Jared Leeds Photography
Trail work · 27 April 2012
Wow, I’ve been really absent from the blog of late, but I plan on being more consistent from here on out. In that vein I plan on contributing an image every week or two from a new on-going project. It doesn’t have a title at this point, but it revolves around an important part of my life… mountain biking. I’ve pushed this off long enough. Whenever I thought I’d start this project I found myself just wanting to ride. So now, every few rides or so I’ll bring my Hasselblad along and shoot some pictures, not the easiest camera to lug around but I love shooting with it so I’m sucking it up. It’s not all action. I’m going try to elevate this from the bike porn that you see in bike magazines, however I’m starting out here with a sexy gap jump. Thanks to Devin Riley for a) being an easy subject and b) making this jump without need of an ambulance. Here is the first installment.
There are lot’s of other blog posts to come about stuff that I haven’t been able to make public yet including another personal project that I’m excited about, so keep an eye out.
Fred Alt for HHMI · 15 February 2012
I photographed another scientist for the HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) Bulletin. Fred Alt “studies how the immune system generates antibodies against any potential invader to the body—from a virus to a cancer cell or bit of pollen.” as it states in the Bulletin. That is probably as layman as it gets. I don’t pretend to comprehend what all these scientists that I photograph do, other than on the most basic of terms. However, I am always in awe. For the most part, while I’m photographing them I don’t really try and get them to explain what it is that they do. I try to engage them on a more personal level, to get them out of their work mindspace. In this case I learned that Fred is a talented banjo player and plays in a bluegrass band and is also an avid deep sea fisherman.
Here are a few of the photos and the tear sheet:
Joanna Aizenberg for Scientific American · 26 January 2012
Last November I was asked by Scientific American to photograph Harvard Chemical Biology Professor Joanna Aizenberg in and around her office. I find it funny how often the assistants of the people I photograph appear afraid of their bosses. Then, when I meet them they are as normal and sweet as can be. This situation was no different. For the time we had, Dr. Aizenberg was very accommodating. In less than one hour I was able to complete six different setups with her. That may be a personal record for that amount of time. The issue is currently on newsstands. Here are a few of the outtakes and the tearsheet.
Hasbro Campaign · 23 January 2012
This past December I was approached by my friend Ed Peselman, a freelance creative director at Hasbro, to shoot an ad based around the game Jenga. The concept was to have a group of people cheering and screaming while playing a particularly lively game. It was released in newspapers in 30 million homes and the idea was to, as the copy states, “Make your game day super!”. Coincidentally, in college a bunch of my photography friends and I shot this same “ad” while actually playing a game of Jenga at a party. Surely we were drunk and didn’t have the same budget to work with. So, even though this shoot is a little different from projects that I normally work on, I clearly had the Jenga spirit and experience and was psyched to jump on board. The shoot was a lot of fun. Ed was a superhero in his role as cheerleader, getting the models pumped and psyched to bring the energy. I don’t know how he had a voice by the end of the day. A big thanks to Jesse Carroll who did a great job on the digital post production
Here’s the final version of the photo:
Here is the ad online and in yesterday’s coupon section. As happens more often then I’d like, the image was cropped pretty dramatically for the print ad.
Some behind-the-scenes photos shot by super-assistant Keith Ryan:
Italy – Part Quattro · 14 December 2011
Here is the final installment from our honeymoon to Italy. (Previous posts here, here and here) Tess and I had both been to Rome before, but for whatever reason we didn’t enjoy it that much the first time around. However, this time we were able to find love for it. I’m not exactly sure why, but maybe the hotel had something to do with it. It’s a small boutique hotel set away from the hordes of tourists. Each room has a unique style and the proprietor and her employees were very sweet. Each evening we’d order a bottle of wine and enjoy it on the terrace as we made friends with the other guests. Here are some photos from the hotel and one of a football match outside the Colosseum.
Italy – Part Tre · 9 December 2011
Here are some more photos I made on our trip to Italy. Unlike previous posts here and here these were shot with one of those non-iPhone cameras. On the Amalfi Coast we stayed in an apartment in the town of Montepertuso, a village just above Positano. It’s on the grounds of La Tagliata restaurant owned by the Barba family. We ended up eating there almost every night and a majority of the food they serve comes from their property. The Barbas were so welcoming that we felt like family by the end. Everyday they would have lunch together as a family, something that we don’t see much in the US anymore. Most of these were shot in Montepertuso but a few are from various other spots on the coast.
Boston Mag Wedding Experts · 7 December 2011
The week before I got married Boston Magazine commissioned me to photograph wedding experts for their wedding issue which is currently on newsstands. Here are the tearsheets of these talented folks along with my favs from the shoot that didn’t make the cut.
Stuart Schreiber for HHMI Bulletin · 1 December 2011
In October I again worked with the folks at VSA Partners and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). I photographed Stuart Schreiber who is a founding member of the Broad Institute and the director of it’s Chemical Biology Program. Here are some of the outtakes from the shoot.
