Biography

Growing up in suburban New York, Joe became fascinated by photography at eight years old, after borrowing his mom's Brownie Starmite camera for a class field trip to the Bronx Zoo. Except for a brief distraction as a Pre-Med student at Hofstra University, (he grew to realize he was more fascinated by the microscope than the microbe) he spent the better part of his college career studying Communication Arts. However, six credits shy of matriculation, he seized an incredible opportunity to serve as protégé to Paul Glickman and Stefan Czapsky, One year later, he was accepted into the Union as a Camera Loader, and worked his way through the ranks until 1989, when, after receiving much critical acclaim for a documentary film, Margaret (1990) on which he served as Co-Producer and Cinematographer, he upgraded his Union classification and officially became a Director of Photography. With more than thirty years of cumulative field experience, Joe has had the opportunity to work with some of the world's best (and a few of the world's worst) directors, and yet retains his sense of humor. He has always enjoyed the challenge of working with modest resources. (Principal photography of Messenger (1994) was completed in only seven days!) He often quips: "Creativity is defined by limitation." Since the dawn of the twenty-first century, Joe has embraced the opportunity to work with new technology. [Link=tt0334193] was The first Hollywood production ever to be photographed using the VIPER FilmStream process. Joe has devoted years of collaboration with fellow industry pioneers like Randal Kleiser, Scott Billups, Peter Anderson and David Stump to advance the art and craft of Digital Cinema. In 2008, he joined the staff of the Science and Technology Council at the Academy of Motion picture Arts and Sciences to work with Jonathan Erland as a research technologist; to aid in the development of high quality solid state lighting and to explore the creative use of variable frame rates. Joe continues to bring this knowledge to bear in his work as a Director of Photography and in his opportunities to direct motion pictures.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jan Nolte & Jenny Leona

On the subject of Producers: "Look under the word PRODUCE at your local grocery... nothing but a bunch of fruits and vegetables"

On the subject of experimental technology: Once you know what it is that you don't know, you can learn it!

On the subject of Mortality: "If I die before I become a Centenarian, cremate me, then seal me up in a film can marked 'Short End'"

[on Cinematography] Light is the chisel that sculpts the mood of every image on the screen.