Eli Reed (b.1946) first rose to prominence as a photographer for his work in El Salvador, Guatemala and other Central American countries. He attracted the attention of Magnum and joined the agency full time in 1988. 

Reed photographed the effects of poverty for a documentary called America’s children: Poorest in the Land of Plenty (1988), narrated by Maya Angelou. He went on to work as a stills and specials photographer for major motion pictures. 

Reed documented the Black experience over a period of twenty years from the 1970s to 1990s. The resulting book, Black in America, includes photographs from the Crown Heights riots and the Million Man March.

Reed has lectured and taught at the International Center of Photography, Columbia University, New York University, and Harvard University. He currently works as Clinical Professor of Photojournalism at the University of Texas in Austin.

Eli Reed is a contributing author to Leonard Freed: Black in White America, 1963-1965