Lebrew Jones leaves the Queensboro Correctional Facility in Long Island City, Queens, NY at 9:31AM on Thursday, November 19, 2009. Jones served more than 22 years behind bars for a murder that he, the victim’s mother and a growing number of experts insist he did not commit. Times Herald-Record/CHET GORDON
There wasn’t any hesitation in waking up just before 4:30AM yesterday, starting my day to head to Long Island City, Queens for the assignment to photograph Lebrew Jones being released from a city correctional facility in the shadow of midtown Manhattan. The paper has covered Lebrew’s story extensively the last few years, as a former reporter of ours, Christine Young (hugging Lebrew below) followed the case of what appears to be his wrongful incarceration 20+ years ago.
Click this link to view my photos of Lebrew’s release yesterday, our earlier stories, and the paper’s award winning multi-media piece.
I kept wondering to myself what do you say to a man who’s been incarcerated for more than 20 years…? Needless to say, it was some kind of emotional morning for everyone involved there in NYC. -cg.
Chet Gordon resides in the lower Hudson Valley region of New York. A photojournalist for more than 25 years, he recently worked as Westchester Magazine's first photo editor, and previously was a staff photographer at four NYC metro area newspapers. He was also a photo editor at the NY Daily News for 5 years. His work has appeared in The New York Times, International Herald-Tribune, USA Today, MailOnline (UK), Army Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Popular Photography magazines, among others. He is a career member of the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA), and a former board member of the NY Press Photographer’s Association (NYPPA). He served honorably as a U.S. Marine in the mid-1980's, including 2+ years stationed on Okinawa, Japan, and throughout Southeast Asia. A longtime volunteer and travel enthusiast, he accompanies several humanitarian aid clients on their international disaster relief and medical missions. Since 1997, he's worked in several African countries, the Middle East, Central and South America, Eastern Europe, as well as Afghanistan, Haiti, the Russian Federation, and Thailand. He routinely mentors young photographers looking to break into the industry and vacations in Bermuda and Kenya.
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