Jamel Shabazz

Jamel Shabazz (1960) is an African American fashion, fine-art, documentary, and street style photographer. Quotes "I started photographing in Prospect Park during the summer of 1980. I was freshly home from being honorably discharged from the United States Army after completing a thirty-six-month tour in West Germany. As a former soldier who was accustomed to physical training every day, I decided to maintain my discipline and run at least four days out of the seven-day week. I started bringing my camera on every run and the whole experience put me on a spiritual journey of self discovery. " Jamel Shabazz: Prospect Park: Photographs of a Brooklyn Oasis, 1980 to 2025-LENSCRATCH26 December 2025) “Street photography is a way of life,” “It’s not about me, I’m just a vessel using my position to freeze time and then thaw the moments out later on so people can see them and heal, rejuvenate, or just celebrate.” Jamel Shabazz Goes Underground to Find the Soul of His Photography-MoMA(18 November 2024) “It takes time to make people feel comfortable and to get them to that point,” “And then, the photographs become evidence of the conversation. The key is really the communication. When you approach somebody with good intentions, they feel it.” “On my social media,I recently posted a photograph of a man walking alongside his pregnant wife and their baby in a carriage. He wrote me and told me his wife had just died last year, and that picture meant the world to him.” “In my photographs you see young men embrace each other,” “It was very important for me to have those handshakes, those hugs, to show that love and that unity. I wanted to capture love and smiles and joy.” “I was working in an extremely negative, violent, hateful atmosphere for much of my life,” “So when I came home I was looking for love because I was working in an environment of war.” “A lot of the images I took I would bring into the jail. I showed them what hope and joy looked like, what family looked like. That work was made with the intent of bringing it into the facility, to use that language to connect people.” “Through my photographs, I’m able to relive moments that are now gone forever,” “and that brings me great joy. So much has changed since I first started. I like to look at places that no longer exist.” “It means the world to me to have it there in the Bronx where it’s free to the public and it’s in the heart of the community,” “I photograph because I want to know more about why we’ve been on this path of life,” “I believe that we’ve met for a reason. I’m learning so much from the people I’m meeting, and I really believe in angels.” I want to capture love’: the intimacy of Jamel Shabazz’s photographs-The Guardian Category:Photographers from the United States