Tribute to Photographer Jeff Malet, Our Dear Friend and Colleague


With great sadness, we are sharing some heartbreaking news: we lost a great friend and colleague this week after a brief illness. Jeffrey Malet, who we affectionately knew as Jeff, was our photographer for years, documenting not only important events on Capitol Hill but local events around Georgetown and within our newsroom. 

Jeff was always the man-on-the-scene in Washington. Whenever there was a parade, bike race, protest, tennis tournament or dance performance in town, or one of our Cultural Leadership Breakfasts, Jeff had his camera and telephoto lens ready. He was always on hand to pitch in with stories, ideas and observations and served as one of our esteemed photography judges in our last photography competition for our October 2021 photo story. 

Jeff spent more than 20 years as a recognized securities portfolio manager. In addition to being a regular contributor to The Georgetowner, Jeff was a credentialed photographer on Capitol Hill. His work was published in local, national and international publications. Just some of the publications his work appeared in include: The Washington Post, The New York Times, NBC Nightly News, ABC News, Bloomberg, NPR, USA Today, Good Housekeeping and much, much more. His brother Philip mentioned that Jeff was also his family’s official historian and photographer, having compiled an ancestral chart and filmed most family events. 

Jeff was passionate about photography and had a knack for capturing the human spirit in the pictures he took. His last assignment for us was Fiesta DC in late September of 2022. You can find those photos here. 

“Once you got to know Jeff, you had a friend for life,” said Georgetowner Editor-in-Chief Robert Devaney. “And when Jeff jumped into photography, he was all in and prolific. His D.C Scenes photo page was a great snapshot of what was happening in Washington during the month — a rough draft of history in photos.”

“His balanced, calm views on most anything were refreshing,” Devaney added. “I’ll miss seeing him at a hearing, red carpet, media scrum — or at our staff meetings. I’ll miss my friend.”

The world will be a little less bright without our dear Jeff. We will forever appreciate him being always on deadline, doing his work with no complaints or troubles. He was determined, smart and creative. Jeff was also unceasingly patient with us. During pandemic Zoom meetings, instead of signing off or yelling at us to stop talking about unnecessary things or getting out of rabbit holes that had nothing to do with our meeting agenda, Jeff would just simply doze off and wait for us to finish our nonsense!  

Jeff was 71 and was a beloved son, brother, uncle and great uncle to his late parents Sidney and Frances, brother Philip (Deb), nephews Ryan (Lauren), Brandon (Ellie) and Trevor (Erin) and their children Jenna, Logan, Kelyn, Skyler and Theodore.  

Jeff was calm, bright, and full of love and light. How fitting that his website’s first featured photo is a vibrant yellow sunflower reaching for the sky. We will miss you Jeff and thank you for leaving your mark on the world with your beautiful photos, which will live on forever. 

Graveside services will be held tomorrow, 11:30 a.m., June 2, at Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Silver Spring, Maryland. In lieu of flowers, donations may be may be made to the Jewish Social Service Agency at www.jssa.org/donate 

 

 

 

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