On View Now: Jamel Shabazz

Last September it was our great pleasure to host Brooklyn-born photographer, Jamel Shabazz, at our monthly lecture series. He spoke at length about his personal history, his work, and the passions that drive him to document life, not only in Brooklyn, but all around the world. After his appearance here at the Brooklyn Collection we began working with Mr. Shabazz to bring his photographs into the Collection with the aim of preserving them for future generations while giving the Brooklynites of today a chance to access his tremendous archive.

As part of our job to make Mr. Shabazz's work more accessible, we have installed an exhibit of nearly 100 4x6 reproductions of his donated photographs here in our Brooklyn Collection display cases on the 2nd floor balcony at the Central Library. Including photos from the early 1980s to as recently as 2012, this exhibit, entitled Reflections, serves as a wide-open introduction to Mr. Shabazz's documentary concerns, covering everything from intimate portraiture, to elegant and dynamic group compositions, to glances into the daily life of a diverse group of Brooklynites.

Along with these photos on exhibit in our Collection, we have also created a more focused online gallery of Mr. Shabazz's photographs, all of which were taken in and around Prospect Park. This online exhibit, entitled Prospect Park -- An Oasis in Brooklyn, can be viewed as a slideshow here and comes complete with a voice-over by Jamel Shabazz... so why not click on the link and listen to the man himself talk about why our neighbor, Prospect Park, has been so important to him throughout his life.

Both of our exhibits, the one here in the Brooklyn Collection and the online gallery, will be up through February, as will the library-wide Jamel Shabazz exhibit, entitled Represent. We hope you can stop by for a visit!