Partner Jerome Robbins
Jesse Gerstein (1957 - October 14, 1991) was born in New York City. In 1975 Richard Avedon, hired him as a
photographers assistant. In 1979 Jesse opened his own studio in NYC. He worked
as a photographer in New York City, Paris and London until 1991. He has
several published book credits edited by John Loring for Tiffany&Co. He
traveled and photographed in Egypt; France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Greece and
the USA. His photographic subjects include Dance, Landscapes, Portraits, Travel,
Florals, Interiors and commercial work for all major magazines and advetisers.
He was a very close personal friend of Jerome Robbins, Artistic Director of
the New York City Ballet Company. In the late 1980's Jesse created a
spectacular series of black and white photographs, Backstage at the New York
City Ballet, capturing a world few have ever seen. Jesse was the last of
Robbins's live-in male lovers.
Gerstein died at Robbins' home. For several months, Robbins had taken him
in and provided care for him with the help of his domestic staff. Michael
Koessel recalled, "Jesse died at the townhouse. I think there was a nurse. And
the last six months of Jesse's life were very, very bad. He was very, very
thin. And he was a kind of a dashing man who lost all of his hair and had
lesions. And also Jesse never once mentioned that he was dying. He never once
suggested that he might be dying, he always talked about the future."
My published books:
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- http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biog1/gerste01.html
- Dance with Demons: The Life Jerome Robbins
By Greg Lawrence