Brad Smith, The New York Times’ senior sports photo editor since 2001, is leaving the paper to join Sports Illustrated as its new photography director.

This marks a return to SI for Smith, as he served as the magazine’s photo editor from 1989 to 2001.

According to the NPPA, Smith will replace Steve Fine, who departed SI in January.

Last night at his home Atlantic publisher David Bradley hosted a well-attended party to celebrate the publication of Gwen Ifill‘s new book The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the age of Obama. Spotted among the D.C. heavy-hitters in attendence were David Brooks, Jim Lehrer, David Broder, Judy Woodruff, Tom Brokaw, and (time-less) Maureen Dowd.

Ifill, whose brother, sister, and pastor were all in attendance, remarked that when it came to the book “timing was everything.” When she had first taken the idea to her publishers their first reaction was “‘A black president? Yeah, whatever…’” And with regards to the controversy that surrounded her book after it was announced she would moderate the Vice_Presidential debate: “Of course, there was the moment when everyone decided they knew what the book was about before I had even finished writing it. I thought, ‘Well that’s fine. Truth will out. I will just survive it.’ And I did.”

Little bit of trivia: The Bradley’s home is located on Embassy Row and despite rumors floating around that it had once belonged to the Cuban Embassy, however host Katherine Bradley told us that its former occupant was in fact the last U.S. ambassador to Cuba. More pics after the jump.

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