It hit me when being a few feet away from him and hearing his conversations: there will soon be a day that the world loses incredible photographers like Jamel Shabazz. Jamel is part of a breed of photographer that is disappearing — he’s a personable photographer who can speak with people and that puts them before the idea of taking pictures. Despite how many people he photographed this month at the Brooklyn Museum, he made more interpersonal connections than I see photographers at the Sony Kando trip make. I’ve made it a goal to surround myself with as many of these people as I possibly can — the photographers who actually do people-work instead of just trying to be flies on the wall.
You can see work from Jamel Shabazz and others at the Brooklyn Museum during Black History Month and into July. Here’s more info.
The Presence of Jamel Shabazz
I remember in college, sitting next to Bruce Gilden at my internship at Magnum. And I also vividly still feel the awe of being in the presence of a building with hair and an old-school Brooklyn accent. He was kind in the NY-kind of way. Quite literally, on the day this article is being published, I turn 37 years old. Standing next to Jamel and being in the man’s presence filled me with similar feelings. Jamel uses his people skills to bring the most out of people in his images, and he embodies the energy of the ultimate extrovert. “I’m already enjoying myself,” he tells a young woman who checks on him to ensure that he gets time to actually recharge and take breaks. At 64 years old, he’s a strong reminder not to try to stave off our enjoyment at a later age but to do it every single day.
I’ve worked with Jamel and emailed him back and forth several times. We’ve interviewed him for this site many times in our 14 years. But it’s the first time we’ve shared the same oxygen in the same space.
When I arrive, Jamel isn’t at the original location: an area that was perfect for controlled lighting and all. His assistants are working to put things together while he walks around meeting and greeting. Eventually, he returns and I shake his hand. Nothing prepares you for the feeling of kindness you receive from this towering giant. I use this term to describe his stature and who he is in the photography and art world. Influencers, photographers (yes, I’m not kidding), and other people came to the event not knowing who Jamel was — while others were as starstruck as I was.
Eventually, we moved locations to do portrait shoots towards the front of the Brooklyn Museum. He takes occasional breaks and goes into the gallery space to see how the images are presented within the Giants Exhibit. I spoke with Jamel and commented on the immaculate lighting on the images within the gallery space. In my eyes, it seems like more museums are starting to understand the importance of mimimizing reflections. He greets several people who come up to him and talk to him — there are hugs, he leans in for handshakes, and he has the genuine conversations of a man who permeates love for the art world. Eventually, a line starts to form, and he returns to photographing people.
When I worked at Magnum, I learned from one of the lab managers that most photography is about talking to people more, and only a tiny part of it is actually shooting. He’s an incredible people person. I’m legally blind, so my sense of hearing is incredible for my age. I’m able to follow his conversations very well, and the enthusiasm in his voice never seems to run out. Jamel speaks like a man who isn’t burned out by social media and hyperfocuses his attention to everyone around him he interacts with. It’s a level of being in the zone that most street photographers aspire to.
How He Shoots: A Gift for People Skills
Jamel Shabazz photographs people in a way that fuses personability into the manufacturing line he’s tasked to do. We’ve all seen things like these at parties. There are several key things he says:
- He compliments people on specifics about their attire that make them stand out. It could be something like boots with a matching bag, a jacket, etc.
- Often, he photographs people from the front and with side profiles.
- Jamel is great at instructing people what to do using hand motions. And for the most part, he doesn’t physically touch or move people unless they really need it or want it to get a better photo. “I need your help, I suck at this,” says one woman. People who know who he is seem to have a very immediate trust in him. And the people who don’t know him, he wins over by projecting his personality.
- “I shouldn’t have to tell you what to do,” Jamel Shabazz tells an influencer-type in jest. He later explained to me that the woman he said that to was from Brooklyn — and if you’re from Brooklyn, you should know how to work in front of a camera at this point. He says this with the jest of a NY culture that’s put in the spotlight often.
- He finds ways to make people laugh — and even calls a man around my age an old-man. He immediately got the joke.
- Handshakes are very common. He interacts with people like a man who isn’t afraid of COVID-19, RSV, or getting sick. When he talks to people and gives handshakes, he consistently leans in. This is partially because we’re all vertically challenged in his presence; but it’s also a personality tactic that wins people over.
- He remembers people he hasn’t seen in years. One man he hasn’t seen since 2002, but Jamel remembers every single detail of when they shot together. His memory is fantastic. It seems almost like he goes through his images every day to reconnect with the memories of what happened on those shoots. On social media, Jamel even does eulogies when he finds out that someone he photographed has passed.
- Jamel says things like, “I love you too,” when fans express their affinity for him. When this happens, it truly dawns on me that photographers like this are disappearing. Peter Hurley was the last one who made it with people skills like this via social media. But Shabazz is from way before social media.
- People bring out their good side and energy when they get in front of Jamel’s lens. Of course, he does the work to bring that out in people.
- “I’m excited to take your picture,” he tells someone once. The person he told this to came to him with an ember of joy on their face that burst into a glowing hearth fire. She radiated joy for perhaps the rest of the night.
After a while, Jamel needs a break and stops shooting for the rest of the night. The event ended at 10pm and he stopped maybe around an hour before that. At one point, he took his jacket off from shooting and working so hard. We can tell that he was really into it because he was sweating while trying to look as nicely as possible.
Photographers like Jamel are artists who hone their people skills and adapt them to the various folks they encounter. Their work gets them into museums and the highest peaks of art recognition. It’s a strong difference from content creators who spend more time building a soulless, lifeless platform that cares nothing for them and instead relies on the life that other people bring to it. But Jamel focuses on real life and lasting legacy and in 2024, that’s one of the most beautiful things a photographer can ask for.