has been described as "perhaps the most versatile photojournalist working today," a distinction earned for his ability to capture compelling images in locations as diverse as an operating room, the top of the Empire State Building and the cockpit of a jet aircraft. Noted for his technical mastery, what makes him unique is his ability to create and imaginatively render "the big idea"—the unique or startling concept that frames a single image or a long-term project.

Joe was studying photojournalism at Syracuse University, hoping to be a sports writer, when a required photography course changed everything. "Once I seriously took a camera in my hands," he says, "I pretty much instantly knew that that was what I was cut out to do."

He went from copy boy at the New York Daily News to a stint as a stringer for the wire services, The New York Times and The Philadelphia Enquirer. A freelance career followed, leading to assignments for Life, Newsweek, Time, Sports Illustrated (where he was a contract photographer for six years), Fortune and National Geographic. In 1995 he was named staff photographer at Life, the first person to hold that post in over 20 years.

Joe has won several journalism awards, including the Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for outstanding magazine photography, and he's been honored by the World Press Photo Foundation and the Art Directors' Club. Constantly in demand as a speaker and lecturer, he has taken part in numerous workshops and presentations, including the Eddie Adams Workshop, National Geographic's Masters of Contemporary Photography, RIT workshops and the Maine Photographic Workshops.

Joe describes his new book, The Moment It Clicks, as "an anecdotal look at a life in photography"—a book that, he says, "has one foot on the coffee table and one foot in the classroom."