Honoring Josh Lehrer with the Robert M. Morgenthau Citizenship Award
Monday, June 5, 2023
About Our Honoree
Josh Lehrer is a professional photographer, philanthropist, and nature lover with a wide and varied career. A graduate of Boston University’s School of Fine Arts, he was a member of the American Repertory Theater, playing cities from Cambridge, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and Venice. Once moving to theater management, Josh managed several Broadway theaters for the Nederlander Organization. As the executive director of the Atlantic Theater, he oversaw a time of tremendous growth and prosperity. As a television executive, Josh was the director of still photography for Showtime, producing the creation of imagery for network branding and the promotion of all movies and television shows.
Returning to school in 2002 with an eye toward becoming a professional photographer, Josh graduated from the International Center of Photography. He now shoots large advertising campaigns and has been commissioned to create art for public spaces and hotels around the world. Josh is the recipient of the 2012 Photo Philanthropy Award for his portrait series, Becoming Visible, featuring images of homeless transgender teenagers. Josh is the author of Hamilton: Portraits of the Revolution (Rizzoli) and is represented by United Photo Industries.
In addition to serving as a Trustee of Riverside Park Conservancy, Josh is on the board of the LGBTQ Health Initiative at Columbia University, a trustee of the Madoo Conservancy, a public garden in Sagaponack NY, and serves on the board of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the world’s largest gay and lesbian synagogue. For the past five years, Josh has been the steward of one of the last old growth forests in Westchester County, supervising restoration and reforestation. Together with the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, Josh has helped clone some of the largest and oldest trees in the world.
Josh has lived on the Upper West Side for the better part of 35 years, together with his two adult children and four-legged friend, and is a four-season wanderer of Riverside Park.
