First, I would like to thank the musicians: wherever I photograph, they have been without exception, gracious, patient and kind.

I would also like to thank Sista Factory, August Fifth Studios and Soul Provider who produced many of the shows at which my most recent photographs were taken.

I am also grateful to the Black Rock Coalition, Shelley Nicole Jefferson and Danni Gee for keeping me informed about many of the shows taking place in NYC.

In addition I would like to thank Arlene Grocery, The Bitter End, The Butta Fly Lounge, CBGB's, The Five Spot, Izzy Bar, Joe's Pub, The Lenox Lounge, The Mercury Lounge, SOB's, The Village Underground, and the management many other venues I have been haunting lately in New York.

They have all been very patient and accommodating, and have made shooting in New York music clubs a pleasure.

Influences

I owe an inestimable debt to Jeffrey Henson Scales, for training my eye, to Bob Ware for teaching me to print and to shoot with confidence and to H. Thomas Baird, my first photography instructor, for teaching discipline and thoughtfulness in this craft.

I am also indebted to my uncle, Charlie, who generously loaned me my first medium format camera.

Other photographic influences include Roy DeCarava, Milt Hinton, William Claxton, Francis Wolff, Gordon Parks and Ernest Dickerson.

Rights & Usage

All the images and video recordings on this site are copyrighted to Jose Ivey. All music on this site, whether in video or audio only, is copyrighted to the performing artist. They may not be used or reproduced without express written consent, with the following exception:

All images, video and audio recordings in the Live Soul/Underground Music collection may be used by the artists depicted, and their management without restriction.

They may use the images, video and audio recordings for any purpose they desire.

There are no usage or licensing fees for the artists depicted in the Live Soul/Underground Music series to use photographs, video or audio recordings of themselves and their groups.

Everyone else must obtain written consent before using any of the images or videos on the site. The audio recordings are NOT available for use outside this site. They are presented here by special arrangement with the artists recorded. Any other uses must be negotiated with the artists themsleves.

About the photographer (Jose Ivey)

I first studied photography 20 years ago at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, while an undergraduate at a nearby college. Since that time, I have worked as a photo assistant, photo editor and, later, a professional photographer.

My work is largely documentary. Current subjects of interest include New York Underground Music, and the streets of Brooklyn.

About the process

Most images on this site were made with conventional film and cameras. The RNC 2004 Protest marks the first use of a digital camera here.

Formats include 6x6, 6x9, and 35 mm. My current cameras are Fuji (medium format), and Canon auto-focus (35 mm). Other cameras used to make the images on this site include Mamiya TLR's, Hasselblad, Yashica, and Nikon manual focus 35 mm.

The color film is Fuji. Until 2002, the B & W film has been Kodak and a small amount of Efke. In the summer of 2002 I began shooting Ilford B & W films specifially to use with the dr5 process.

All the images are full frame - no cropping was done. What you see is everthing that is on the film.

Film images were digitized using film scanners (Minolta & Nikon), scanning software (Silverfast & Vuescan) and edited using Photoshop.

Special thanks to:

Ed Hamrick, developer of Vuescan.  www.hamrick.com

Wayne Fulton, author of the Scan Tips website.  www.scantips.com

Michael Reichmann, publisher of the Luminous Landscape website.  www.luminous-landscape.com

Paul Weinschenk and the folks at Clone-a-Chrome Labs, an outstanding custom lab. www.cloneachrome.com

David Wood, creator of the dr5 B & W reversal process. Perhaps the best way to process black and white film. www.dr5.com