Love, Adorned

Jamel Shabazz - Brooklyn Public Library

The Brooklyn Public Library hosted legendary photographer Jamel Shabazz to discuss his life and work in and around Brooklyn.

He’s spent decades documenting the communities in which he lives and works. He  has produced literally thousands of amazing portraits, many of strangers that he stops on the street or subway. In using his camera to preserve “seconds of [his] life” he has also created an incredible history of a community struggling to cope with drugs and gangs while preserving its pride and hope.

Shabazz is basically my photographer hero, and hearing him speak you sense his passion for both photography and helping people. He has stories upon stories about the subjects in his photos, and you can tell that he feels personally connected to each and every one of them.

I encourage you to check out his work, and if you get the opportunity, go and see him speak.

A small sample of Jamel's work is below. You should cop his books because they are amazing.
Back in the Days
A Time Before Crack
Seconds of My Life

Electric Boogaloo 2 - Electric Boogaloo

B-Boy crew in the 34th Street / Herald Square station. In the years I've lived here I don't think I've ever passed by a crew without watching and feeling exactly like these kids.

Punchline

 What does Jersey City have that New York doesn't?

A great city just across the Hudson!

Moza Saracho - Mirrors by Moza - 809 Washington St

Mopping in evening wear, a great fall look for both men and women.

Moza Saracho (right)

A friend invited me to the opening for "Mirrors by Moza" in the meatpacking district. 

We arrived just in time to catch an unexpected performance. A leak had sprung in the rear of the gallery and there was standing water across much of the floor. Many of the guests, most in heels, pitched in to help clean up. I'm sure that mop buckets and copious rolls of Bounty were not part of how Moza pictured the evening, but she remained upbeat despite. 

Cheap Thrills Magazine - Debut Issue Launch - 64 Kenmare

Panther Club

Maggie Lee

Fuck This Life

Panther Club

Peter Sutherland

Maggie Lee

Mickey Factz

Peter Sutherland and Lenard Smith

Cheap Thrills Magazine had a party to celebrate their debut issue titled "The Strange Massage." The magazine features work by Peter Sutherland, Maggie Lee, Wes Lang, Fuck This Life, and Panther Club. The show exhibited the original collages that were made for the magazine.

The "gallery" is a recently vacated retail space and though raw served its purpose. Its proximity to the San Gennaro festival in Little Italy made for some awesome moments as puffy pisans kept stopping by to check out the crowd.

I was stoked to get to meet all the people you see here but want to note that also in attendance (not pictured) was the homie James Moore who just got back from Paris and beat the case that he caught the last time that I saw him. Dismissed!