SHADES OF BLACK

Thursday January 30th, 2014 ( Featured on Wonderful Machine’s artist spotlight section)

by Wonderful Machine’s  Liz Ream

Joshua Prezant‘s favorite part of being based in Miami is the diverse pallet of people he has access to. His style is centered around “capturing a moment in time that tells a story and gives a small glimpse into the lives of both the known and unknown.” This being said, he was very excited to get involved with Shades of Black,  a gallery opening tomorrow evening at the Little Haiti Cultural Center of Art in Miami that focuses on colorization of the Americas and showcases visual expressions from a diverse group of mixed media artists, painters and photojournalists:

The exhibition takes visitors on a journey through Africa, across the Atlantic, and to the Americas where the life stories and cultural diversity of the people of Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Brazil and Cuba are transformed and absorbed by African New World influences. Jazz legends come alive, sports personalities await to be crowned and attendees encounter the complexities, richness and triumphs of the “Black Experience.”

Joshua is one of the featured artists, in the good company of Herman Leonard, Jim Morin, Patrick Farrell and many more. Below, he tells the stories behind some of the photos that are to be displayed at the gallery.

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American Heritage High school soccer player Miguel DaSilva (top left) poses for a picture at the home of his  guardian, Joe Sagarra. DaSilva escaped Angola after his parents were shot in front of him. After making he way to the US, he landed in an Atlanta airport on September 11, 2001.  He is one of the best players on his team and is expected to go to college on a full scholarship. Having the privilege to meet and photograph this amazing kid was awe-inspiring for me. He triumphed over the most horrible obstacles that no person, let alone a kid, should have to go through. Often times, as photographers, we are art directed to get serious pictures of a subject. And other times you have a great actor or personality in front of your lens that makes it look and feel real. This was different. His pain, suffering, and triumph was really there.  This was the real deal and I only hope that I was able to capture an inkling of what this strong and courageous boy carries on his shoulders every day.  My goal was to show his emotional past as well as his future with soccer.

Trick Daddy (top right) is sometimes called the Mayor of Miami.  When you think of hip hop/rap and Miami, you first think of 2 Live Crew and then Trick Daddy.  He is one of the pioneers that brought the unique Miami sounds and stories to the hip hop masses.  And where 2 Live Crew rapped about partying and women, Trick was not afraid to bring the “gangster in his life” to his music.  I was assigned by The Source magazine to do a spread of portraits on him.  We met at his recording studio/office that he keeps in a rough area of Liberty City just outside of Miami. The guy is a bit intimidating when you first meet him.  But he was extremely hospitable and easy to shoot. He was actually playing pool with some guys while we were setting up the next shot when I asked him to stand still while we got some lights in place and then fired a few frames. I love how the beat up walls and torn up pool table contrast with his aviator glasses and bedazzled AK47 shirt.

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Flo Rida is truly the most down to earth, genuinely nice guy. You will not find another artist who is this famous and equally laid back.  The shoot was assigned by XXL Magazine through Photo Editor Mike Delfin. Having worked with Mike on previous shoots, I was given a ton of latitude to do my own thing and surprise him.  The idea was to feature Flo Rida after his album began blowing up the charts.  The magazine’s only instruction was to shoot him in his hometown of Miami (Coral City) and not the palm tree-lined and sun-filled beaches. My team and I scouted a few locations ahead of time and nailed everything down. He was very easy to work with. No huge entourage, just him and two buddies. We had figured about an hour for the shoot and ended up shooting for 5 hours at several different locations. He was tremendously gracious with his time and just wonderful to work with. Being from Miami, it makes me proud that he is representing it in such a classy and authentic way.

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Missy Elliot is awesome. Five time Grammy Award winning American rapper/hip hop artist, singer-songwriter, and record producer. She’s the only female rapper to have six albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one double platinum for her 2002 album Under Construction. I got to spend the day with her on the set of a video shoot for one of her artists, Monica. I was there to do portraits of Missy and Monica for InStyle Magazine. It was wonderful to see Missy as both an artist and producer. Throughout the day I observed Missy chewing gum and blowing bubbles the whole time. The gum idea was not on my mind initially. I usually try to go into shoots with some ideas, but I always make sure I can adapt and switch gears to whatever the subject or environment screams for.

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For Jamie Foxx’s portrait, I was on assignment for Entertainment Weekly. Jamie was working on his first record. The idea was to show Jamie the musician, not Jamie the actor.  The shoot took place at Circle House Studio in North Miami.  It was interesting to see Jamie and his crew work together to formulate lyrics for his songs. It was a wonderfully creative group effort. My assistant and I ended up hanging out the whole evening listening to his record being formulated and tracks laid down. The man is truly a talent.

Shades of Black, Colorization of the Americas opens at 7pm tomorrow night at the Little Haiti Cultural Center of Art at 212 NE 59th Terrace in Miami. For more of Joshua’s work, check out his website.

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Latley Joshua Prezant Photography has been getting a lot of love from the UK. Two differnt project in the same week that came from different clients in the UK.  Always a pleasure working with our English speaking counterparts…aside from the time zone difference.  Thankfully there is a App for that.  Currrently our cell phones and computers have the time zones and current times for about 5 different places around the globe that we regularly do business with. It is not uncommon to wake at 5AM to check emails from the clients speak to the about the projects we are working with.

Our lastest client was Sony Records UK.  We were contracted to photograph Hip Hop artist J. Cole for a promotional shoot after the launch of his world tour that started in Miami.  And When I say after…. I mean at 2 am. It was a quick shoot and we had to work with the location we were given as we were photographing him right after his concert and right before he hopped on his tour bus to head to Orlando for the next stop. Oh, I forgot to mention that it was also in bentween a intervew with a print journalist.  We ended up in the hall way of the Hyatt Regency Miami having to be very quite as we were shooting after 2 Am with guest of the hotel fast asleep.  We had to work with this as every other location around was filled with fans spilling out after the show.

Usually this can make for a rushed ( or should I say more rushed) shoot.  But luckily for us, J.Cole remebered Joshua from an early shoot about a year ago for FHM Magazine out of London.  He seemed happy to see a familair face and already had that important trust in the photographer that is needed for a successful shoot.

 I look forward to round 3 and round 4 with J.Cole.  He is an extremely articulate and friendly individual.  I with his much success of his new tour and album.

© Joshua Prezant 2013

© Joshua Prezant 2013

RIP DON.

I am fortunate to get to photograph the music giants of today often.  However, it is much more rare that I get to photograph the legends of yesterday. One legend that I was able photograph was The Man with the Golden Ear: Don Kirshner.  Being a bit too young to have been a fan of The Archies,  The Monkees or Bobby Darin in there day, I became a fan while in the back seat of my parents car as we drove all over South Florida listening to  FM 102.7 the oldies.  I can still see myself seeing along to “ I’m a believer.”

I photographed Mr. Kirshner near his home in Boca Raton a few year back for a story that ran in the Washington Post.  I remember him being a real pleasure and easy to photograph.  In between setup he filled the time with some amazing stories from his days in the music industry. Even in his 7o’s he was full of spunk!!!  RIP.

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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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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.