Almost 20 years ago, Jeffrey Jones suffered a debilitating workplace injury that left him with four steel rods in his back and in daily, excruciating pain.
He was prescribed painkilling drugs like OxyContin and Percocet, but he knew the medication wasn't for him. It wasn't until he started visiting Prospect Park in 2009 that Jones found true relief — in the beauty of nature and the park's wildlife.
"Ever since, I've been coming and sitting by the water, you know, I find that it gives me so much peace," he said. "Just watching the birds be birds; sometimes I forget that I am in pain."
Not long after that, he got his first camera so he could capture the beautiful moments he observed, in order to share his joy with others.
That turned into a serious hobby, and today, Jones can be found at Prospect Park every single morning, seven days a week, photographing the birds and wildlife of the park on his digital camera with a range of different lenses.
"As soon as I get here, everything else goes blank, and I just focus on the miniature," he said. "I forget everything."
Jones is a self-described "bushman" and an animal-lover who grew up surrounded by pet monkeys, chickens, dogs and rabbits on a farm in Barbados.
On a recent Friday, Jones took BK Reader on a walk of his typical route — a long-lens camera slung over his shoulder — pointing out the feathered, shelled and webbed-toed characters of the park he knows so well: A great blue heron, a black cormorant flying low and graceful over the lake, a small but vocal bullfrog hiding in the lily pads.
As he walked, he bumped into fellow park local Sarah Wagner, and the pair discussed how many recently hatched swan cygnets had survived after one was found with a fishing hook in its mouth and required rescue.
"Jeffrey helps us enormously with rescues," Wagner said.
Jones said he worries about the human impact on the wildlife of the park and is the type to dig a hole and bury a dead bird or raccoon he finds on the path or step in if he sees people harming animals.
"I'm not just a photographer — I'm an animal lover first," he said.
The resilience of the natural world also inspires him, he said. Two years ago, he saw a turtle get one of its feet bitten off by another turtle. Two years later, that turtle has recovered and is still living his best park life (Jones has the photographic evidence to prove it).
Recalling the damage to his own body makes him cry. Jones said he was employed as an ironworker in 2004, when he jumped in to prevent another employee from being injured and took the impact himself.
He suffered two broken vertebrae in his lower back, a pinched nerve in his neck and two herniated discs, he said. He also had to have his right rotator cuff removed. The injury has left him unable to do hard manual work. However, he has recently been working in the movie industry on the set of "Billions."
He is also trained in reiki — an energetic healing practice — and loves to chat with fellow parkgoers and make joyful connections, he said.
While the amateur photographer could easily build a profile for himself with his impressive daily wildlife captures, that's not why he does it, he said.
"I don't have a website; I don't sell photography. That is not my purpose. The purpose really is to make people smile."
One of his biggest goals as a photographer certainly seems to be to make his youngest daughter smile.
After showing her a photo of a bird pooping that had her in fits of laughter, he decided to make a photo book for his kids, entirely dedicated to birds doing their business. Jones is now on his third book in the series.
The books are an act of love and patience, he said.
"Sometimes it takes me four days to get one bird," he laughed. "I can show you some amazing bird poop photos."
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