Featured Volunteer: Brad Baskin

If you’ve been to a social event, holiday celebration, or fundraiser hosted by Jewish Pavilion Senior Services (JPSS), odds are you’ve had your photo taken here. But have you ever gotten to know the man behind the camera?

If you answered no, don’t worry. You’re like most everyone else. That’s because a good photographer’s role is to bring out the personalities of the people being photographed – not to call attention to themselves.

Such is the case with Brad Baskin, owner of Brad Baskin Photography and a frequent shutterbug at JPSS events.

“I love being a photographer,” he says. “My goal is to make people feel relaxed and to bring out their unique character in my photos.”

That philosophy applies whether Brad is taking photos of events for the nonprofit JPSS, doing corporate work, or capturing meaningful moments for families.

“I started out in fashion photography taking pictures for my family’s clothing business,” says Brad, who had set up his own darkroom by the time he was 13 years old.

That was in Joliet, Illinois, where he grew up. Brad studied at four colleges, graduating from the San Francisco Art Institute in California. In 1983, he launched his own photography business.

Brad moved to Central Florida in 2018, when his daughter Bree married a man from Orlando. Shortly thereafter, Bree and her husband, Joel Goldstein, founded the Jewish Chamber of Commerce in Orlando. Bree then met Nancy Ludin, CEO of Jewish Pavilion Senior Services, and their connection led to Brad’s role as a volunteer for JPSS.

“I try to get people to enjoy getting their photo taken,” says Brad. “And if they are having a good time, then I am enjoying it as well.”

So, the next time you’re striking a pose at a JPSS event, don’t forget to say hello to Brad – the likeable guy behind the camera.

“Brad is the only person I have ever met who absolutely nobody doesn’t like,” says his wife, Janie. “He is the perfect epitome of a nice person.”