John Barrett (b. 1951) is a New York photographer known for his "unique style of photography necessary to give the same life to posed images that audiences are used to from seeing the Muppets on television and film." (jimhensonlegacy.org) His photographs of Jim Henson and his Muppets have appeared in publications such as The New York Times and in numerous museum exhibitions. Barrett's portraits of Henson, Miss Piggy, Kermit, Elmo, and other world famous Muppets were a major part of the 2008 retrospective, Jim Henson's Fantastic World, at the Smithsonian, Washington D.C. Barrett's photos also can be found in the permanent Jim Henson collection recently donated to the Center for Puppetry Arts, Atlanta by Henson's family.
Born in Tyler, Texas, Barrett worked as an apprentice / photojournalist for Conti Press, in Hamburg Germany. He then attended The Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. He assisted various photographers before finally opening his own studio in 1974 in New York City with photographer David Arky (who left in 1976). Some of their early work included the famous National Lampoon poster, Are You a Nerd? which defined a whole generation of adolescent social outcasts, who grew up with it posted above their computer terminals.
In December 2005, The Museum of Television and Radio (NYC) presented an exhibit of Barrett's photography, Muppets Say Cheese:The Art of John E. Barrett, which ran through April 2006 and is slated to appear in other cities.
A recipient of every major photographic award, John Barrett continues to photograph in New York City.
His clients have included ABC TV, Applause Inc., Apple & Eve, Arista Records, AT & T, Avis, Between The Lions, Buena Vista, Butterick Co., CBS TV, DDB Worldwide, Deustch Inc., Deutsche Telekom, Disney, Domino's Pizza, Fisher Price, Kraft Foods, Fuji Zerox Japan, Gentlemen's Quarterly, Golden Books, Grey Advertising, Harry Abrams Inc., Harvard Business School, Hasbro, Hilton Hotels, Holt, Rinehart Winston, IBM / J. Walter Thompson, The Jim Henson Company, Keebler, King Features, Kirshenbaum, Bond & Partners, Kodak, Leo Burnett USA, Microsoft, Mobil Oil, MTV, National Lampoon, NBC TV, New York Times, Nickelodeon, Nike, Oracle Computers, PBS Kids, People Magazine, PepsiCo, Polaroid, Random House, Salomon Smith Barney, Sesame Workshop, Shadow Projects, ShowTime Network, Simon & Schuster, Sirius Thinking, Sony Wonder Music, Time Life, TV Guide, Tyco Industries, United Media, Universal Studios, Universal Studios Japan, Vanity Fair, Vogue Knitting, Weekly Reader, WGBH TV, Workman Publishing.
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