Behind the lens: New York Times photographer Todd Heisler ’94 captures history in the making

Todd Heisler ’94 is a New York Times staff photographer whose career has taken him all over the world with a press credential and a front row seat to history.

John Twork | Tue, Apr 1, 2025

Inside the forest-green, single-story Edwards Hall Annex, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Todd Heisler’s future came to light in a darkroom.

An art major from Mount Prospect, Heisler ’94 joined The Vidette’s photography staff on a whim during his freshman year at Illinois State University. He’d pull daily photo assignments from hooks lining the darkroom wall and shoot nearly anything, from breaking news to sports.

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Heisler processed his images in the long-since demolished Edwards Annex darkroom, the pungent smell of film-developing chemicals permeating the darkened space. The next morning, he’d thumb through The Vidette to see his work in print before heading out for another shoot.

Man playing a bass guitar on stage without a shirt on — As a staff photographer for The *Vidette*, Todd Heisler captured photos of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ concert at Braden Auditorium November 26, 1991.

“For me, that’s where it all came together—learning about art and aesthetics through the art program, and learning journalism working at the school newspaper,” said Heisler, who spent three-and-a-half years as a Vidette photographer. “ISU was where everything started.”

Now in his 20th year as a staff photographer at The New York Times and 30th as a photojournalist, Heisler has covered just about everything, including the Iraq War, the COVID-19 pandemic, politics, human interest profiles, and parades.

No matter the assignment, Heisler looks—through his viewfinder—to humanize the news.

“I want my photography to slow things down and make people stop,” Heisler said. “I look for the humanity in things, whether it’s still life or pictures of human beings.”

After graduating from Illinois State, Heisler worked for several weekly publications across Chicagoland. He then joined the Rocky Mountain News, a now-defunct daily newspaper in Denver, where he earned a Pulitzer Prize for his series “Final Salute,” which documented U.S. Marines delivering the news of a soldier’s death to their families.

Heisler has been with The New York Times since 2006 and lives in Brooklyn, with his wife, Kelly (Campbell) Heisler ’93, a fellow Vidette alum who he met in the Edwards Hall Annex-Vidette newsroom, and their son.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

New York Times

Throughout Heisler’s nearly two decades with the New York Times, he’s photographed the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan almost every year.

the legs of a Kermit the Frog parade balloon are seen with people on the ground, and the majority of the balloon blocked by a building — “I shot this in 2007. I had just started at the *Times*, and this ended up on the front page. I left the parade route to file my pictures at a coffee shop, but I couldn’t get back to the route because the streets were so packed. So, I just photographed from a block away.”

a parade balloon, in the shape of a swan, is seen through a window — “Because of the time of year and the light, there’s just something about it that’s fun. I’ve also worked really hard to find different angles on it each year. Another year, I was able to get into somebody’s apartment on Central Park West and photograph through their windows.”

One in 8 Million

2008, New York Times

Heisler was part of the Emmy Award-winning team that captured the stories of 54 everyday New Yorkers told through photography accompanied online by audio.

a teenage boy stands on the spires of a door with a train and buildings in the background — “This was an only child. He’s coming home from school, and he’s just waiting for the train and climbed up on this door, and it’s just him being a kid.”

“What was important visually is that the city is not just a backdrop. The city is a character as well. A sense of place was always really important—getting people out on the subway or walking, or however they commute, was really important for me to get a sense of the rhythm of their lives.”

The New York City of Our Imagination

August 20, 2020, New York Times

Heisler captured life in New York City, between two and four months into the COVID-19 pandemic, as residents adjusted to the “new normal.” His images of masked and socially distanced New Yorkers in an eerily quiet metropolis were accompanied online with sounds of the bustling pre-pandemic city.

People laying on the ground, relaxing in a socially distanced park — “There was a park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where they created these circles for people to socially distance. The images I saw (from other photographers) were from above to see the circles. But I always seek intimacy with my work, and I really like to connect with people who I photograph.”

Two masked people sit on a car hood at a socially distanced drive-in theater — “A drive-in movie theatre had popped up around that time, and this was something where I had an idea in my head of what a drive-in theatre would look like with a screen and everything, but images present themselves, and you have to be aware in the moment of something different and look away from the action. You have to look at how people are responding to something.”

Two Weeks in New York

September 11, 2015, New York Times

Heisler and reporter John Branch covered Serena Williams’ attempt to capture the Grand Slam—winning all four major championships in one season—at the U.S. Open in Queens.

Serena Williams walking onto a tennis court — “I always like to photograph things like performances or sporting events from the side or a little off from the center position, because I don’t want to give you something that you can see on, say, television. I feel like it’s my job to maybe move over a little bit to give you a better perspective of what it feels like to be there.”

Serena Williams hits a tennis ball — “The idea was to do this story without any access (beyond a standard press pass)—to give an intimate, different look on following her quest (for the Grand Slam), but without having any promised access behind the scenes. It was just everywhere I could go with my press pass.”

Goodbye, 6 p.m. Sunsets. See You Next Year.

November 3, 2024, New York Times

Heisler documented New York City between 4:30 p.m. and sunset during the waning days of daylight saving time, shortly before those daylight hours were lost to winter darkness.

two people sitting close, one with eyes closed, both holding phones — “I was really trying to look at that one specific time and embrace what that light feels like and what we sort of take for granted before daylight saving time ends.”

New York City at twilight — “Flying over New York City and Manhattan specifically—it’s pretty awesome. I feel like to get perspective on the city, you have to get up high at times. It can also be very nerve-wracking to look straight down into the city (with the helicopter’s door open). You have to make sure everything’s tied down.”

A Rock Star’s Next Act: Making Montana a Skateboarding Oasis

September 30, 2021, New York Times

Heisler traveled across Montana to photograph, using a panoramic film camera, high-end public skate parks, many of which are created and maintained by Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament.

people at a skate park — “I heard about this from a friend of mine who rides a skateboard; I still ride a skateboard, too. They told me there were a lot of unique skate parks in Montana, and I wanted to explore them visually.”

two young people holding skateboards pictured from the chest down sitting atop a ramp. one of them has a bandaged knee with streaks of blood running down the other knee. — “These kids were hanging out with their feet dangling, and they, as you can see, were committed. This is an example of how the reaction can be more powerful than the action. I think the Band-Aids and the blood running down the knee show as much about commitment as somebody landing a trick.”

a person skateboarding at the park with two people on horseback in the background — “My friend, who spent a lot of time here, said ‘There’s this park in Darby with a rodeo next to it.’ I was Googling trying to find out when the next rodeo was, and it didn’t look like anything was happening while I was there. So, I was bummed and almost didn’t go. This goes to show that with all the technology and access to information, there’s still no substitute for showing up. I went down to check it out, and there was a youth rodeo happening next door. So, I spent three hours, until it was dark, photographing this park.”

The Vanishing Mind

June 1, 2010, New York Times

Heisler and reporter Pam Belluck documented how Alzheimer’s disease is afflicting an overwhelming number of people in the mountain villages of northwestern Colombia.

black and white image of two people holding hands facing away from each other — “It’s an incredibly sad story, but it’s also inspiring to see what the family members do for each other. This girl decided she wanted to be a nurse to care for people. Other family members were maybe a little more in denial about it.”

A person pointing while in conversation with another person, while a person connected to oxygen lays on a bed next to them — “You want to take a broader look so people can understand the scope of a story like this, but I think it’s important to focus a little bit with certain people or certain families to really get a granular look at how this plays out in a particular household.”

When Violence Hits Home in Chicago

June 4, 2016, New York Times

During Memorial Day weekend 2016, Heisler and a team of New York Times photographers and reporters set out to document how violence was affecting Chicago’s people and neighborhoods.

a crowd gathers around a car taking pictures of the people inside it — “I thought it was important to show as much daily life beyond the violence as possible. So, this was a really special moment to come across. I was following up on a report of a shooting nearby and never found it. But I saw and photographed (teenagers receiving a heartfelt sendoff to prom) instead.”

Final Salute

November 11, 2005, Rocky Mountain News

During the second year of the Iraq War, Heisler and reporter Jim Sheeler documented Marines, led by Maj. Steve Beck, stationed at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, who were responsible for notifying families of the deaths of their loved ones in Iraq. Heisler and Sheeler won Pulitzer Prizes for feature photography and feature writing, respectively, for “Final Salute.”

a casket is unloaded from the cargo hold of an airplane. passengers look out through windows above. — “We followed Maj. Beck through this experience, as he was there with Katherine Cathey, whose husband Jim Cathey was killed in Iraq, as his remains were taken off the airplane in Reno.”

A uniformed military official embraces a distraught woman with a military aircraft in the background — “It’s a huge privilege and a huge responsibility when people let you into their lives like this.”

a person using a laptop computer lays on an inflatable air mattress on the floor. in the background is a flag-covered casket guarded by a uniformed military official — “We met Catherine Cathey, and she allowed us to be there with her when she went to Reno to bring her husband’s remains home and allowed us to be there behind the scenes throughout the weekend leading up to the burial. This was a very unique experience. There were still things that I wasn’t fully aware of that they did. One thing that we really wanted to see was the Marines who would stand watch over the fallen Marine’s casket for 24 hours before the burial. And while we were there just to spend time with these Marines, Catherine showed up because she wanted to spend the night there before her husband’s burial.”

A uniformed military official draped a flag over a casket in an empty room — “This was a moment when Maj. Beck was by himself, and he meticulously folded back the flag and arranged it so that she could come into the room. And it was one of those moments where it’s so incredibly quiet, where you can hear yourself breathing. This was before silent shutters, so the camera was still pretty loud. So, I had to really choose my frames and be thoughtful about it to not disturb the situation. And I thought, even in the moment, this is such an incredibly profound and private thing that I might be the only person to photograph this. And it’s important.”

A Long Hardwood Journey

July 16, 2015, New York Times

Heisler and reporter Michael Powell followed the Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School boys’ basketball team, from the Bronx, on and off the court, as its coach and players pursued a city basketball title.

black and white image of two basketball players, in uniform, looking away from the camera — “I’m not a sports photographer. But I learned how to shoot sports at *The Daily Vidette*. We did everything. I try to bring all these other skills that I’ve learned on my path as a photographer into this type of story because sports, to me, is just the backdrop in this story about community, camaraderie of this group of young men, and how they came together.”

a mother hugs her son, a member of the basketball team, as two other people look on — “This is an example of the type of work I love to do, which is where I spend time with people and develop these relationships. It takes time for people to forget you’re there, let their guard down, and sort of welcome you into their community.”

COVID-19 news coverage

2020, New York Times

Heisler traversed the streets of New York City during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to portray the pandemic’s impact—from frontline workers to socially distanced funerals.

a masked person wearing a hat stands near a fence with tents in background — “In my travels, I started noticing these white tents popping up everywhere, and they all had different uses and meanings. There were refrigerated trucks (with tents attached to the back) being used as morgues. There were remote hospitals being set up. And there were COVID testing centers.”

two masked and gowned workers stand behind a fence — “I look at my job as not just a news photographer, but as a historian as well. I want to create images that are a time capsule and hopefully last beyond the news of the day.”

a semi truck trailer with a connected tent structure — “When the pandemic started, my wife and I decided to stay in New York City and stick it out. As a photojournalist, I felt a duty and obligation to stay here, where I live, and cover this story. As tough as it was at times, leaving was not an option.”

A Sneak Peek at the New Season of Glee

September 9, 2010, New York Times Magazine

Heisler spent five days photographing the second season of Glee while it was produced at a Los Angeles studio lot and two nearby high schools. Among the show’s cast was Illinois State alum Jane Lynch ’82, who portrayed Glee antagonist Sue Sylvester.

Jane Lynch as her Glee character, Sue Sylvester, with a clapperboard in the foreground — “I always love the anticipation before that moment (when the director says, ‘Action!’), because I think there’s a lot of really great images and expressions you see right before that. This is her getting into character right as they’re about to shoot the scene.”

Jane Lynch wearing a cheerleading outfit, riding a bike on the set of Glee — “This is when it was really taking off, and it was a really fun assignment. It was really cool to meet Jane Lynch, a fellow ISU grad. So, we spoke about that a little bit, and she was very gracious.”

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