John E. Barrett
From Muppet Wiki
John Barrett (b. 1951) is a New York photographer who has worked for The Muppets and other The Jim Henson Company properties as well as Sesame Workshop. 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 to be on his own in 1976). Some of their early work included the famous National Lampoon poster, "Are You a Nerd?"
Barrett's first encounter with Jim Henson occurred when he was commissioned by designer David Kaestle to photograph the puppeteer with an early version of Cookie Monster. In 1979 David Kaestle recommended Barrett to provide display photography for The Art of the Muppets traveling exhibit, and the subsequent The Art of the Muppets, as well as The Making of the Dark Crystal. In 1980 to meet the growing demand for top quality photography in a specialized field. The Henson Company established the Henson Photo Studio which was overseen by Calista Hendrickson. In 1985 to meet growing demand, the studio moved from the Muppet Workshop to a three story carriage house. Barrett worked closely with Michael K. Frith on such projects as Miss Piggy's Guide to Life, and with Bobby Payne, Jim Mahon, Rick Wetzel, Lyndon Mosse, and Lauren Attinello. John worked closely with the photo team which included scenic artist Bruce Morozko, prop master Karl Soderstrom, costumers Deborah Lombardi and Barbara Davis, stylist Danielle Obinger, and photograph assistants Marianne Bernstein and Christie Sherman.
Barrett became responsible for the photography used in most of Henson publications including Muppet Magazine, the Miss Piggy calendars, and Muppet Parody calendars, posters, licensing, books, press releases, advertising, corporate jobs and more. He also supplies the puppet photography for Sesame Street as well as other notable children's puppet shows.
Notable Barrett accomplishments include photographing Miss Piggy's Guide to Life written by Henry Beard and was 52 weeks on The New York Time bestseller list, The Kermitage Collection, the Kodak Times Square Kodarama billboard, Got Milk? campaign featuring Cookie Monster and a series of photographic storybooks featuring the Muppet Babies as nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters.
In December 2005, the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City presented an exhibit of Barrett's photography called Muppets Say Cheese, which ran through April 2006 and is slated to appear in other cities as well.
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, Mobile 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.
