25 October 2010
By Lula Brown
Jeff Meltz is everywhere you want to be.
That is, if you’re among the youth of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Jeff is the warm, outgoing quirky guy behind the flash at Downtown weekly parties, and the brain behind “THE CULTURE OF ME,” video production and nightlife photography team.
Hailing from Rockland County, just thirty minutes outside of New York City, Jeff grew up with an older brother two and a half years his senior, who is now a high school mathematics teacher. As Jeff puts its, “He’s more analytic, and I’m more artsy, even though I’m not artsy at all.” This humble statement is completely washed out by Jeff’s fantastic photographs and keen editing skills. However, what Jeff is really getting at with this shy statement is the fact that he was never really interested in the formalities of photography such as darkroom techniques and theory. Jeff’s greater passion during his school years was for writing, juxtaposing his outgoing nightlife personality. His favorite authors include Don Delilo, Bukowski and Chabon, with “The Neverending Story” by Michael Ende being his favorite novel.
After living at his parents house for one and a half years after graduating college with a TV/film major and a creative writing minor, he moved to the southernmost part of Brooklyn, New York in 2004. This was a huge change in lifestyle for Jeff, since he had been working retail for the past year and a half. The shift proves Jeff’s practicality and ability to be a chameleon and adapt to any situation. At this point, Jeff was 24 years old and attending a lot of music shows in Brooklyn and Manhattan. He began photographing on his own at these events, revealing that his photography may have started as a vessel for his musical passions. Jeff’s favorite music group is Knapsack, a little known emo/rock/indie band that is working hard to secure their place on the scene. The photographer’s support for this emerging, yet extremely talented group displays his ability to spot talent that others may not even notice.
In January 2006, after two years of photographing on his own, THE CULTURE OF ME website was born, giving Jeff’s work a true home for it to expand and gain publicity. At this point, Jeff was covering multiple downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn events, and is presently photographing “RANDO” at Gallery Bar on Tuesdays and “Girls & Boys” on Fridays at Webster Hall, among many others.
Jeff’s favorite party is RANDO because “It makes no sense. There’s no built in crowd and it’s always a mess. A good party is made by the energy.” Jeff knows that a good party is not about “bar guarantees and bottles and bullshit,” as he feels so many parties are these days, but rather the momentum of the people in attendance. A good party can happen anywhere, and Jeff can sense when the vibe is right. Although the biggest factor is energy, Jeff is concerned with the decrease in space to be creative with parties because of the demand for said guarantees and bottles. However, this issue goes along with our weak economy, since people depend more and more on free alcohol when going out. If you can roll with a promoter, which means free alcohol, that is the way to go in times like the present.
In the ever-raging battle between LA and New York nightlife, Jeff is surprisingly nonplussed. He feels that LA is the “epitome of a scene where it’s much more about who you can get to attend your party. In NY, it’s less cutthroat because all you want is for your party to be successful, considering the 432, 427, 897, 282, 709, 379 other parties happening that night.” Although Jeff is aware of this truth, he does not care much about the LA scene and has not made a point to investigate further, since he truly believes that a good party can happen anywhere.
Although there are often many nightlife photographers at the same event, Jeff does not play into any sort of competition with his peers. He’s aware of which photos are not liked, and admits that sometimes those photos are his. Jeff’s honesty reveals that some will always dislike even the most respected nightlife photographers.
As Mo Daly, nightlife veteran and emerging DJ stated, “I think his pictures are some of the better ones out there, awesome editing. He has a way of making me take a picture when I try to dodge him, which is a skill in and of itself. And he seems to genuinely listen to music; isn’t just there for the party. Big fan.” This loaded quote from a girl who sees it all lends a lot of weight to the claim that Jeff is simply one of the best.
Along with attending weekly parties diligently and working on his videos during the day, Jeff is very active in social networking, primarily via Facebook and Twitter. This proves his acknowledgement of the fact that one must use these tools to get necessary publicity and stay connected in this day and age. Jeff’s tweets are a great combination of the business and personal sides of his work from “on TCOM [THECULTUREOFME] News: Kid Karate are releasing their debut EP next month http://cultur.me/cn6N5I” to “mambo #5 is relegated to weddings and senior homes only, right?” and “need to be #highoncoffee.” If you are curious, his coffee is always hazelnut with half and half and one sugar.
Jeff has a girlfriend, “#thelovelygirlfriend” as referred to on twitter, who is studying to become a teacher at NYU. She is not involved in nightlife, which juxtaposes Jeff and his prominent position on the scene. However, when Jeff does not have to be out, he and his girlfriend like to do “actual cultural things, like museums and theater,” sans his omnipresent camera. The couple also loves a good taco night or chicken potpie dinner at home.
In terms of personal style, you can catch Jeff in quirky trendy getups from Uniqlo and Ben Sherman, paired with his classic round glasses and huge SLR camera. The effect is a unique cross between hipster and schoolboy from the 70’s, in the best way possible.
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