After months of communication, this past November we finally had the honor of interviewing Jamel Shabazz. Shabazz, a Brooklyn, NY native, is a renowned fashion, fine art, documentary and street style photographer as well as the author of Back in the Days, The Last Sunday in June, Seconds of my Life, Sights in the City: New York Street Photographs, Back in the Days: Remix, and most recently, A Time Before Crack: Photographs from the 1980s. Mr. Shabazz is a wealth of knowledge. In part 1 of this extensive interview, Shabazz talks about developing a love of photography from his father, as well as an unlikely neighborhood hero of his. He reflected on developing a sense of consciousness as a black man through photography, but also being lured into the streets before being enlightened by a mentor. In the wake of dropping out of high school, Shabazz enlisted in the Army where he temporarily put the camera down and educated himself through music and literature while stationed in Europe. After completing his duty, he came back to Brooklyn in the early 1980s to a whole new world. Words Matter.

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