Jonathan Reichek was born in Paris France in 1951. He lived most of his life in Berkeley, California.
Jonathan was surrounded by intellectual and artistic family friends who were the avant-garde of the time. In this atmosphere, Jonathan met his mentor, Milton Halberstadt, who was one of the few commercial photographers in San Francisco in the 50’s and 60s.
Jonathan studied at UC Berkeley where he distinguished himself by getting all A’s in his studies He used photography for his senior thesis in which he portrayed the lives of disabled students. While at the university, Jonathan had the honor of having a photographic exhibit at the renowned Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC. The Corcoran is now part of the National Gallery of Art.
After college, Jonathan set up shop in Berkeley as a freelance commercial photographer. For 27 years, his clients included many of the largest corporations in San Francisco. Jonathan was known for his keen eye for finding fascinating subjects, intriguing composition, and superb lighting.
As an art project, Jonathan wanted to do something photographically interesting, involving a cutting edge, human rights related subject, from a unique perspective. So, for twenty years Jonathan shot black and white photographs at the Folsom Street Fair from the ground view. .The photographs in this submission are from that body of work.
Unfortunately, Jonathan died November 1, 2023.
