Meeting Jamel Shabazz – in which a chance encounter turns into a Master Class in street portraiture

Photographing people is easy in an urban setting like New York because they are everywhere.  Getting good shots of people, maybe not so easy.

In my early days of trying to shoot street photography in NYC, I tended to wander around the city with my camera trying to get interesting candid shots.  My efforts were plagued by classic beginner’s mistakes – too far from my subject, too slow fumbling with the gear and missing the telling moment, and lots and lots of fairly bland ‘nothing’ shots that didn’t really convey much emotion or meaning.

This shot on St. Marks Place in NYC’s East Village has lots of interesting elements, the people have character, the street has character, but the shot?  Not so much.  It’s like serving a meal with ‘all good ingredients’ that doesn’t come together into something tasty.

Even at closer range, trying to grab shots of people can feel more like random surveillance than a meaningful moment.  If I was going to figure out how to shoot worthwhile shots of people in NYC, I had to change my approach and up my game.

Going up to complete strangers on the street and asking for a photograph is an acquired skill, but I was feeling like I needed to figure some way to get better shots of people than furtively taking pictures from a literal or psychological distance.  One Sunday morning in early June I was out with the M3 and  I saw a very cool looking gentleman sitting on a park bench.  I liked his look and he seemed pretty friendly and had two cameras, a big SLR (digital, I think?) on his shoulder and a Contax G2 slung casually over his knee.  I summoned my courage, walked up to him and asked for a shot, which he obliged.

He was clearly a photographer and was intrigued by my vintage Leica M3 kit which had a 1949 collapsible Summitar 50mm with a vintage Leica Yellow/Green filter and a funky old hood that looks like something you’d find in the glove compartment of a Gemini space craft.  I told him how I had gotten into photography quite recently under the influence of my son and thanked him for the photo.  About 20 minutes later Graham and I came down for a photo walk with our matching Leica M’s and he was still there.  I introduced him to Graham and we had a nice chat about photography.  He loved seeing us out and about with our cameras as father & son and took a shot of us, noting that he was doing a series of photos of fathers and sons.

We exchanged Instagram information, and I discovered I was talking to the great and historic NYC street photographer, Jamel Shabazz, a true master or street portraiture celebrating black life in the city.  He has lots of beautiful coffee table books, including A Time Before Crack, available from powerHouse books.

That weekend was the opening of Photoville, a street fair devoted to photography in my neighborhood in Brooklyn.  Jamel was there talking to an Emory professor about his latest photo book, Drama & Flava, and Photoville had devoted a large wall display to celebrating his career.

The neighborhood was crawling with people with cameras and Jamel encouraged me to take a photo of this nice photographer who happened to walk by while we were chatting.

One of Jamel’s superpowers is making photos of people who are aware of the camera and getting them to collaborate in the creation of an image to share the pride and joy they feel about themselves.  With this shot, he was quietly coaching me in how to shoot that way.

I love Jamel’s ability to connect with the people he photographs, and in our brief interaction I could see his perfect mix of ease, authority and confidence talking to people he encounters on the streets of NYC.  Although I only spent a few minutes with him in person,  based on that encounter plus having a look at his work in his books and on-line I felt like he was the perfect role model at the perfect time for the next step I was trying to take with my photography.

This is one of my first attempts at engaging with a total stranger on the streets of NYC in the Flatiron neighborhood.  This young man was looking pretty ‘badass’, dressed sharp with a devil’s head pendant.  As I was passing him, I decided on impulse to lean past his somewhat intimidating demeanor and ask for a shot.

We ended up having a nice chat, and he made sure I took a shot that showed off his neck tattoos, which are a little harder to read in monochrome than in person.

But what isn’t hard to read is the sense of personality these photos convey; especially in the profile.  You can see his pride and enjoyment that I was taking the shot that he wanted.  Immediately, it felt like I was making progress!

The ‘rules of engagement’ when taking street portraits are something I needed to learn by doing.   One of the first events I shot after meeting Jamel was the Provincetown No Kings Protest.   I never said a word to either of these two guys, but after a little silent exchange where I made eye contact and pointed at the camera and then at them there was a clear agreement that they were cool with me taking their photo.  In some ways they seemed to be enjoying putting on a little show for the camera.

I’ve had some interesting encounters with people who think you shouldn’t be able to take photos of people out in public without getting their express consent, one person even insisted it needed to be in writing.  I think that is a legit issue if you are on a paid assignment for a commercial enterprise, like fashion, advertising or entertainment — I deal with that all the time in my day job.  But for personal photography or journalism I think there is more leeway to balance a photographer’s First Amendment rights with a subject’s right to privacy, especially out in public spaces.  There are a lot of opinions and nuance to this discussion, but I try to let a sense of common decency govern my approach and have avoided shooting people suffering from mental health or addiction issues, and I’m learning to read the cues to avoid shooting people who don’t want to be photographed, especially if they are in emotional stress.  (Struggling to not make a bad joke about Coldplay concerts here…)

In my view, people who are taking part in public protests are putting themselves in the public domain, and I have no problem taking their photos.  So while I think getting their permission is not mandatory, it’s also not a problem like this shot of a clergy person sharing a message about their faith.

Asking someone for a photo gets you past one of the classic ‘beginners’ mistakes of not getting close enough to your subject.

I sometimes feel that the way a person poses with intention when they know they are being photographed can reveal something about how they want to be seen — and how they see themselves. This shot of a Rye Playland ticket taker radiating his cool and confident persona is very much inspired by Jamel’s work.

I am finding that more often than not, people are happy to let you take a photo, like these two from the No Kings protest.  The contrast between the personalities of the two friends is quite interesting with the one on the right very much striking a pose for the benefit of the camera and the one on the left a little more reserved.

This worker setting up a safety fence on the DUMBO waterfront was happy to take a quick second to let me grab a shot with the Hasselblad.

It may not always get you a great shot, it reduces the amount of ‘nothing’ shots dramatically.   For street shooting, I like finding events that bring out a lot of people.  The NYC Pride ‘after party’ in the West Village was very target rich with people who were happy to be photographed.

Often a little eye contact was all I needed to get someone to connect with the camera in a shot.

Sometimes you need to go up a level and verbally to ask for a shot.  I was lining up a shot of this cool looking group when the person in the center called out, ‘Ask!’  So I went up and asked if I could take a shot and they nicely agreed.  It’s one of my favorite shots of the day.

Some people have big personalities and love playing for the camera, like “Strawberry Trev” on the right.

Apologies to regular 35mmc readers who have seen this on a recent post about b&w stocks, but this shot is a real favorite that owes a lot to my meeting with Jamel, so I think it deserves a spot in this post as well.

I asked the person on the right for a photo, originally thinking I was going to shoot a single, but their friend just kind of stood planted in the frame.  I decided I liked the slightly odd near/far composition of the two shot and fired away.  I think it sort of has ‘album cover’ vibe; maybe I should try cropping it into a square frame…

There was something kind and soulful about this person’s look as well as the decorative LOVE band aid that caught my attention as a calm still point in the midst of a somewhat crazy afternoon.

With Jamel Shabazz as a major inspiration, I am finding that working up the courage to engage with someone on the street is a game-changer in terms of getting much closer — not only in terms of the physical proximity of the lens, but also closer to the inner persona of the person I’m shooting.

I will definitely be trying to build on this experience going forward on the streets of NYC, or wherever I might find myself behind a viewfinder.  Thank you, Jamel for a truly valuable lesson and example!

Check out Jamel’s latest book Drama & Flava, released on July 8 by powerHouse Books!

And check out powerHouse books & Jamel on Instagram:

@powerhousebooks

@jamelshabazz

Featured Image:  JAMEL SHABAZZ PHOTOVILLE DISPLAY, Leica M3, Leitz Summitar 50mm f2, Cinestill 800T

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