Until that day in 1974, the self-taught photographer had done freelance work in San Francisco, taught photography and filmmaking at Rutgers University in New Jersey and schlepped around the city with a portfolio, trying (in vain) to pick up assignments from major news magazines.

While the Soho News weekly $40 salary was hardly enough to live on, the paper did provide Tannenbaum with the legitimacy and training he needed. "Initially I was very shy," says Tannenbaum. "At the Soho News I learned how to be better at telling people how to pose, at getting into places and pushing and shoving if necessary."

In his post-Soho years, Tannenbaum has focused on international news. Here he is covering Desert Storm.

Tannenbaum quickly made a name for himself with his shots of New York night life, celebrities, and political events. He earned the respect of prominent New Yorkers and eventually landed an exclusive photo session with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, one week before the Beatle was killed. Those photos drew world-wide attention for Tannenbaum, who, according to an early agreement with the Soho News, maintained complete copyright on all his photos.

Tannenbaum playing with his band, The Love Handles.

Despite the low pay and his dwindling interest in covering the decadent New York scene, Tannenbaum stuck with the weekly until it closed in March 1982. He then signed up with the photo agency Sygma and pursued his true passion -- international news photography. He traveled to South Africa for Nelson Mandela's release from prison, to Colombia in order to document the volcanic disaster that left over 20,000 people dead, to Berlin to cover the reunification of Germany and to the Gulf to shoot the aftermath of the war. His photos of the Arab-Israeli conflict won him First Prize for Spot News from the World Press Association.

Despite the excitement and significance of his recent work, Tannenbaum still credits his decade at the Soho News as being a crucial period in his career. He is now working on a book, Soho Blues, about his time with the weekly.