A photography editor at the New York Times and teacher of photojournalism at New York University, Jeffery Henson Scales grew up in Oakland, and as a son of activists, became known in around Panther circles in the 60s. His documentary photographs have been exhibited at museums throughout the United States and Europe and have appeared in numerous photography magazines, books, and anthologies. His photographs are in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The City Museum of New York, The George Eastman House, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Weisman Museum of Art, Minneapolis, Newfields at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and The Baltimore Museum of Art. A one-person major exhibition, Pictures from America, sponsored by The Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York, traveled throughout the United States from 1996 to 2001.

Scales is also an award-winning editor who curates The New York Times photography column, “Exposures,” and is co-editor of the annual “Year in Pictures” special section. He is also an adjunct professor at NYU’s Tisch School of The Arts, teaching photojournalism there since 2006. His most recent book House documents life in a legendary Harlem barbershop over the course of six years.