BIO
J.M. “Joe” Eddins Jr. is the current managing editor of Airman Magazine, the official magazine of the United States Air Force, published by Defense Media Activity at Ft. Meade, Md. He was named Department of Defense Civilian Photographer of the Year for 2016.
He is the former Director of Photography and Multimedia at The Washington Times in Washington D.C., after serving as Chief Photographer at The Washington Times for 12 years.
As Chief Photographer, Eddins organized special event coverage, performed photo and assignment editing, and developed strategies for a conversion to digital still photography in 1999 and, later, to video and multimedia. In addition to feature, news and sports photo assignments, he has covered the White House, Capitol Hill, the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Presidential Campaigns and political conventions and the war in Iraq.
From 1990 to 1997, he was a staff photographer for Patuxent Publishing Company of Columbia, Md., a publisher of 11 suburban community newspapers with a combined circulation of more than 300,000.
While at Patuxent, Eddins was the National Press Photographers Association, Region Three Photographer of the Year for 1991 and 1992.
In 1995, Eddins covered the Papal visit to the United States as a member of The Jersey Photographic Project resulting in a book Pope John Paul II - An American Celebration.
He began his career as a freelance photographer and writer in 1984, before taking his first staff job as Sports Editor and Staff Photographer for The Record and The Sunday Weekly in Havre de Grace, Md. Eddins graduated in 1984, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism and minors in Political Science and English from West Virginia University.
Eddins has also served as a coordinator and instructor for the “Kids & Cameras” project at the Greenmount Recreation Center in Baltimore, Md., in conjunction with The Johns Hopkins University Office of Volunteer Services.
He has also served as Advanced Team Leader, Team Leader and Lighting Workshop instructor for the World-Wide Military Photojournalism Workshop at the Defense Information School (DINFOS), at Ft. Meade, Md. and Black Team member and Purple Team IT specialist at the annual Eddie Adams Workshop.
His clients include The New York Times, The Washington Post, McClatchey News Service, Columbia Association, SC Magazine, Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Connor Studios.