Jonathan Postal, PhotographerJonathan Postal
My Life & Hard TimesBorn in New York City, Jonathan Postal is now older than he was before. Nothing much happened until he found himself in London, art directing the International Times. One of their photographers, Mr. Snow, convinced Postal that he would never be much of an illustrator and encouraged him to purchase a camera. Returning to the States, Postal was told in a bar in New Orleans that San Francisco Art Institute was a good place to study photography, so he applied and was accepted. He pretty much spent the next four years there--except when he was elsewhere--and received a BFA in photography. Next, he wasted several years playing in rock bands: first as a founding member of the Avengers, but primarily as the lead vocalist in the Readymades. Postal then returned to NYC where he worked for the Soho Weekly News as a photographer. He also freelanced for such publications as Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Guitar World, The New York Times, and Interview. Postal then went to Milan to shoot fashion and try to pickup tall girls. In Milan, he worked for Vogue Vanity, Vogue Pelle, Amica, and Max, as well as various advertising projects. Drinking entirely too much coffee and realizing that he would never speak Italian, he relocated to London. While living in London, Postal was associated with The Black and White Gallery. He continued to shoot editorial projects for Tattler, She, Face, and Timeout, as well as record and book covers, and ads for clients such as Max Factor, Caroline Charles, and anyone else who would have him. During this period, Postal also made trips to New York and Australia to shoot projects for Time Life, YM, Liz Claiborne, WEA, and CBS Records, among others. While in Australia, Australian Professional Photographer published a feature on him. Moving to New Orleans, Postal and his cat acquired a dog. He did much work for New Orleans Magazine and also began exhibiting his fine art photography at various galleries. While out for a drive one day, Postal found himself accidentally relocated in Memphis, TN, where he started exhibiting at the Cooper Street Gallery (now the Jay Etkin Gallery). He won the Memphis Arts Festival’s Best of Photography award three times and is in the collection of both the City of Memphis and the City of Nashville. After working as the Creative Director of Eye Magazine, and being honored with an ADDI for his work for The Humane Society, Postal spent five years as the Photo Editor and photographer of Towery Publications. Postal was then hired by the New Times and moved to volatile Miami, Florida where he worked as staff photographer and taught photography at the Miami International University of Art & Design. Jonathan completed his first year of an MFA at the Memphis College of Fine Art and is now completing work on the Readymades LP due out in February 2009. Jonathan Postal is now married to artist and designer Mary Long-Postal & working out of Memphis Tennessee.