Jamel Shabazz Lesson Plan

At the intersection of instinct and genius we find Jamel Shabazz. With a camera in his hand and love in his heart for his people and his community, Shabazz makes you stop, look and wonder. Shabazz, a photographer from Red Hook, Brooklyn followed his gut, triggered to shoot what many would find mundane; street culture in the early 80s. Did Shabazz reach for his camera knowing that these practitioners were in fact the architects of Hip-Hop- a global phenomenon that would reach all four corners of the Earth? Perhaps.

But equally as pivotal was his introduction to photography. In 1975, at 15-years old, he yearned for a vision larger than the backdrop of blight and suppressed creativity surrounding him. Fortunately, Shabazz resisted the temptation of the vice life and instead of drugs or a gun, he picked up The Autobiography of Malcolm X and his mother’s camera. And thus began his transformation into a street hustler of a different type; one moved by the archaeology of street life.