4 November 2010
By Lula Brown
Jeff Meltz is everywhere you want to be.
He’s the warm, outgoing quirky guy behind the flash at downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn nightlife events, and the brain behind “THE CULTURE OF ME,” a music, art and nightlife photography website based in New York City. Essentially, Jeff is at every important event capturing everyone from DJ’s to bouncers to partygoers.
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.” Jeff’ is an artist in many senses, considering that his website combines commentary on music and art, as well as the creation of photos and videos.
Many have praised Jeff’s high-quality photography and keen editing skills, and his sharp sense for musical talent further proves his artistic ability. Jeff and his partner have been asked to be panelists for the Capstone Project Presentations this year at NYU’s Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music. When you are with Jeff at an event, it is clear that he is really there to listen to and critique the music, in addition to his photographing and socializing.
In 2004, Jeff moved from his parents’ house in Rockland County to the southernmost part of Brooklyn, and started attending a lot of music shows all over New York City. He began photographing on his own at these events, inspired by his favorite musicians and upcoming artists. 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. Few people know of this band, but Jeff supports them enthusiastically.
In January 2006, after two years of photographing on his own, Jeff founded THE CULTURE OF ME website, bringing together his various projects in one forum, allowing for exposure and expansion. At this point, Jeff was covering multiple downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn parties, and is presently photographing “RANDO” at Gallery Bar on Tuesdays and “Girls & Boys” on Fridays at Webster Hall, among many others. “RANDO” is a weekly party with three resident DJ’s: Dances with White Girls, DJ Fulltime Fun, and ARQ. “RANDO” also has different special guests every week. “Girls & Boys” is an event that has two resident DJ’s, Alex English and rekLES, along with special performances each week by electro artists like Chromeo, Boys Noize and Nero.
Jeff’s favorite party is “RANDO.”
“It makes no sense. There’s no built in crowd and it’s always a mess. A good party is made by the energy,” he said.
In the ever-raging battle between LA and New York nightlife, Jeff zeros in on one large difference.
“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 [infinite number of] other parties happening that night,” Jeff said.
Since there are less parties happening in LA, people care more about who is in attendance, whereas in New York it is more about having a good time with people who are actually your friends.
Although there are often many nightlife photographers at the same event, Jeff does not play into competition with his peers. He’s aware of which photos are not liked, and admits that sometimes certain people do not like his photos, although the majority does. Jeff jokes that his favorite moment in nightlife is anytime someone asks him if he is NickyDigital, another very popular nightlife photographer. His response is usually “yes,” demonstrating his carefree attitude. Jeff has consideration for personal opinions on his widely popular photos, but realizes that one must ignore the critics at a certain point.
As Mo Daly, nightlife regular and emerging DJ stated, “I think his pictures are some of the better ones out there. He has a way of making me take a picture when I try to dodge him, which is a skill in and of itself. He seems to genuinely listen to the music, and isn’t just there for the party. I’m a big fan.”
Along with attending weekly parties diligently and working on his website during the day, Jeff is very active in social networking, primarily via Facebook and Twitter. These tools are necessary to get publicity these days, especially in the world of nightlife. Jeff’s tweets are a combination of the business and personal sides of his life 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. As opposed to Jeff, she is not involved in nightlife and does not usually attend the parties he photographs. 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.
Regardless of his success as a photographer, Jeff 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, which does not follow suit with his outgoing nightlife personality. His favorite authors include Don Delilo, Bukowski and Chabon. “The Neverending Story” by Michael Ende is his favorite novel.
Jeff captures all the latest style trends in his party photographs, but what is his personal style? You can catch Jeff in quirky getups from Uniqlo and Ben Sherman, paired with his classic round glasses and huge SLR camera. The effect is a charming cross between hipster and schoolboy from the 70’s, in the best way possible.
In the future, Jeff sees himself married with a child and a more solid photography career including event and studio work. He would love to stay in New York forever but is not completely attached because he knows that wherever he goes will be “cool in some way.” This easy-going attitude shows that he could really thrive anywhere, but juicy New York is his ideal stomping ground, and the best place for him to expand his work.
Photo by Wet Paint
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