Jamel Shabazz was born in Brooklyn New York and at age 9, he was introduced to photography by his father. He has been documenting the urban life of the city ever since he picked up his first camera at the age of 15 intrigued by photoghaper Leonard Freed’s provocative images of both Southern and urban life. As an upcoming photographer he has been following the work of African American pioneering photographers Gordon Parks and James Van der Zee who also happen to be two of his biggest influences. He has published 3 books titled "Back in the Days", "The Last Sunday in June" and "A Time Before Crack" and he is currently working on his fourth book titled "Seconds of my Life" which will feature three decades of work and, for the first time, will feature Shabazz’s photographs from 9/11. In his first three publications New York's 80's Hip Hop culture comes into life. Puma-hatted men with over-sized glasses, big gold chains and earings, giant boom boxes, its all here through the lens of a man whos snapshots capture the city’s youth, focusing mainly on group portraits of the inspiring present and future generations. Shabazz is also a volunteer with the Rush Arts Philanthropic Foundation an organization trying to bring the youth of the inner city closer to the arts. According to his own words, through the love he feels for his hometown he sees himself as "a mentor first and a photographer second". His work has appeared in publications such as The Source, Vibe, Trace, British Elle, Jalouse, Dune, GQ, and French Vogue. In addition, his photographs have been exhibited in Hip-Hop Nation: Roots, Rhymes, and Rage at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, at Xhibiton Transition in Chicago, and at Trace Magazine: True Signs in Paris.
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