What do you get when you photograph a group of people that have been having their whole lives filmed for years……Great actors in a sad real life drama!

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Joshua Prezant Photography was contracted to take portraits and behind the scene photographs of the Entire Hogan Family as they entered into the 2nd season of VH1’s #1 reality show Hogan Knows Best being filmed in Miami Beach.

Little did I know that only a few months later the family that appeared happy and together, and in love in my images would turn into a huge mess….

Nick Bollea, Hogan’s son, was arrested and sentenced to 8 months of jail for charges of felony reckless driving stemming from a accident in Clearwater, Florida where he flipped his yellow Toyota on a wet road and collided with a palm tree, a crash so serious that his passenger John Graziano will need to be cared for in a nursing home for the rest of his life.

Terry ( hulk) and his wife of of over 24 years divorced in a very nasty and public battle that dragged on for almost 2 years.

Although I saw the stresses of being filmed 24-7 and having to always be “ON” I had no idea what was to come and that the marriage was about to end.

The family was wonderful to photograph. With  the help of my great assistant Noelle we were able to photograph several great family portraits as well as an array of individual portraits in a short amount of time. The crew doing the filming on the show were a pleasure to work with as well.  We were able to work smoothly and in synch with them to get the images we need while not interfering with the actual tapping of the show.  ***And no, you will not find Joshua Prezant in any of the episodes of the show.  I declined to sign a release to be featured in the show.

I wish the Hogan family well and hope that better, happier, and more loving time are are ahead for them all.

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Just saw this on Tv the other day while watching the news. Every photograph in the commercial was shot by Joshua Prezant Photography for use in a variety of print campaigns.   It is great to see a creative multimedia use of all my images for this advertising campaign. The M Network gave  justice to the images and did a great job producing this short commercial.

One of the great things about my business is the fact that I get to meet wonderful people from all walks of life.  Young and old, rich and poor, outgoing and shy, and artistic and intellectual.  My team and I get a peek into a slice of life for these people and their worlds.

Paloma Teppa, owner, of Plant the Future, was one of these wonderful people that we get to meet.    Teppa is an Argentina born and Italian fine arts trained industrial artist and her medium is plants.  She uses live plants and flowers to create miniature sculptured gardens. Joshua Prezant Photography was commissioned by Miami Magazine to photograph Teppa at her store.  Teppa was a great subject that was willing to try any of the setups I have thought of.  One of these included her sitting on a piece of her work literally on top of a spiky cactus!!

Tear Sheet

Outtake

Shamesha loves children and tending to their needs makes her feel useful and fulfilled. She hopes to translate this love of children into a future as a caregiver. This bright young lady already volunteers part-time at a daycare center where she enjoys feeding babies, rocking them to sleep and teaching them the difference between right and wrong.

Her friends describe her as “talkative,” and she sees herself as cute and funny with an energetic imagination. In her spare time, Shamesha enjoys spending quiet time in the park or just singing along to her favorite rap, hip hop or Gospel track. Participating in sports is high on her list of favorite things to do. One of her short-term dreams? She hopes to be invited to a dance – one day soon. Loving and warm-hearted, Shamesha hopes to be adopted by a caring and understanding family that enjoys outdoor activities. Her desire for a stable home is so strong that this creative child wrote her own song about being adopted!

This child with special needs has set her mind on developing creative ways to manage her frustrations. It’s important to her to maintain a relationship with her birth family. A supportive environment for Shamesha will be one that provides balance and that enables her to become the shining light that she can be.

Since it’s inception I have been a contributor to the Miami Herat Gallery project.  Every year I have been honored to be asked to be part of a group of photographers from South Florida that come together to photograph some of the many children up for adoption in Miami.  This year I got to photograph a wonderful young lady named Shamesha (pictured above) that has been in and out of the “system” her whole life.  Hopefully she, along with the hundreds of other Miami-Dade foster children, will find a good loving home soon!

The Children’s Trust Miami Heart Gallery is a traveling, museum quality exhibit featuring portraits of children in Miami-Dade’s foster care system who are available for adoption. Child advocates and agencies across the nation have come together to create Heart Galleries, featuring children who dream of finding permanent homes with loving families.

From Maine to California and Florida to Washington state, these dedicated Heart Gallery planners have added their own touches, and through hard work and the generosity of their communities, they have helped these special children step out from the shadows into the light.

For more information and links to other Heart Galleries across the United States, visit www.heartgalleryofamerica.com or click on the section to the right for Heart Galleries throughout the US.

Exhibit at the FIU Frost Museum

Exhibit at the FIU Frost Museum

Having grown up in Miami/ South Florida my whole life I have a certain affinity for folks that grow up in Miami, rising from nothing to make it big. Hip hop sensation Tramar Dillard, better known as Flo Rida, is one of these folks.  He was born and raised in Carol City, Fl. by his single mother  who raised him and his 7 sisters.  A little while after Flo Rida’s  hit album titled Low dropped, Joshua Prezant Photography was assigned by  XXL Magazine to photograph the artist.  The photo editor and great guy all around , Mike D,  wanted him photographed in the areas of where he grew up.  The magazine wanted to get away from the South Beach image that was regularly portrayed in magazines when they talk about Miami.  With less then a day notice my team was off to scout for some locations.  Not knowing how much of a entourage to expect we had to make sure any location could accommodate several cars and people.  Without time to get permits from the city we had to relay on our contacts in the community to give us permission to photograph on private property ( it pays to have grown up where you work).  However, none of that was necessary as his came to the shoot with a couple of people and a big smile.  We did not have too much time with Flo Rida as he had several other media event booked for the day.  But with the help of my assistant Noelle (also a fine photographer) and a easy going subject we were able to knock out several set ups.

It was a true pleasure working with Flo Rida.

Joshua Prezant’s images featured in two books about the band Green Day.

Today I was informed that several of my images taken of the band Green Day have been featured in two separate books.  The first book is by author Marc Spitz ( not the gold medal winning swimmer, but the former senior writer at Spin Magazine) titled Nobody likes You: inside the turbulent life, times, and music of Green Day. The second, by author Ben Myers, is titled Green Day: American Idiots & The New Punk Explosion.

Being a big fan of Green Day since their Kerplunk album in ’92, I was really psyched to photograph them live.  I had been to their concerts as a fan in the past and was never disappointed. Outside of The Rolling Stones, Run DMC and oddly enough, The Barenacked Ladies ( in the mid 90’s), I think Green Day had always given one of the best live performances.  And shooting them during there American Idiots’s tour was no exception.  It was one of the few concerts I photographed where I found myself singing along as I shot. Now, having my images immortalized in 2 well regarded books on the band is just great.