About Michael Berman

Michael Berman was born in 1967 and grew up in Washington, DC and its suburbs. While in high school, he discovered the music of Dischord Records, an independent punk rock record label. The label’s anti-corporate D.I.Y. ethos, and great bands, influenced him and inspired his drive to create. 

In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, during and after attending NYU for college, Michael spent nearly every spare cent he had on film, processing, and printing. His photos documented life in NYC and in places he visited: anonymous people in public places as well as more intimate candids and portraits of friends and family.

In the late ‘90s, Michael began his career as a photographer, working for community papers in Brooklyn, and later the New York Daily News. In 2006, not long after his daughter was born, the Daily News fired him because he had told them he couldn’t be at an assignment until after 8am because that’s when the daycare opened. Shit’s the breaks.

After that, he went “freelance.” When work came, it was great; when it ebbed, not so good. Over the years, Michael has photographed for numerous newspapers and magazines, NYC restaurants, a number of national brands, schools, and plenty of non-profits. 

All in all, it’s been fun. He likes taking pictures for people and companies. He enjoys putting on the hat for them, and working to create imagery that can help their business succeed. But Michael’s true passion is for documentary.

By picking up a set of portraits he made on the streets of New York in 1999, and then 20 years later endeavoring to meet the people in them - Michael has found a way to merge his photography and his long-held belief in the power of good human communications.

Making a film about regular people - all whom it turns out are extraordinary - sends a vital message: we can learn from anyone we encounter. Meet people, connect, and try to understand where they’re coming from.