Jeff Cowen (January 9, 1966 in New York City, New York) is an American art photographer. He is known for painterly silver gelatin photo murals and photo collages. Various chemical procedures, mark-making, brushwork, and post darkroom mixed media finishing techniques are often contained in his artworks. Early life and education Jeff Cowen was a New York University Honours Scholar in Oriental Studies. He also studied at Waseda University in Tokyo. His senior year he took a photography class with Elaine Mayes at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. During this class he made photographs of prostitution in the Meatpacking District in New York City. This work was acquired by the New-York Historical Society for their permanent collection. Career After graduating he worked as an assistant for master American photographers Larry Clark from 1988–1990, and Ralph Gibson from 1990-1992. Clark was the assistant of W. Eugene Smith and Gibson was the assistant of Dorothea Lange. At age 23, Cowen's images of the Romanian Revolution appeared in: The Guardian, Tel Aviv Post, Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun. Cowen studied drawing and anatomy (1994–1996) at the Art Students League of New York and the New York Studio School. In 2001, he moved to Paris, France. He was awarded the Thomas Cooke Award for Photography. In 2005, his first monograph was published by Paris Musées. That monograph contains his early New York work and his painterly Mural collages of nudes. In 2007, Cowen collaborated with filmmaker and writer Andre Labarthe founder of the Cahiers du cinéma for his exhibition called The Lotus Eaters. Jeff Cowen's works are included in numerous private and public collections all over the world. His works have been shown in Kunsthalle Bremerhaven, Germany; DZ Bank Art Collection Frankfurt, Germany; Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany; Huis Marseille, Museum voor Fotografie, Amsterdam, Netherland; Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Russia; among others. In 2021, Jeff Cowen was nominated and awarded the Pollock Krasner Grant for Fine Art Still Photography. Since 2007, Cowen lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Personal life Cowen taught photography to underprivileged, inner-city kids at LEAP between 1990 and 1994. Cowen discovered and mentored the young and brilliant illegal immigrant Dan-el Padilla and helped him earn a scholarship to Collegiate School in New York City. Padilla later earned a scholarship at Princeton University where he graduated with the highest distinction and was offered full scholarship at Oxford University. Due to