I turned 37 this month, and I often look around at the world of photography while trying to reinforce that what we do is art. With the way that technology changes so quickly, most people associate photography with content instead of art. That’s because of our failing arts education system worldwide — which does a terrible job of showing people how it can be art. And one of the best ways to do it is to show off more prints. Prints aren’t necessarily treated like a random swipe through a portfolio on Instagram, they’re often looked at with more revereance. The book Jamel Shabazz: Albums, bring the dream to life.
This is a book of albums he carried around with him and showed to the people he’s photographed. It’s something that he’d show people as he went around taking portraits. “With all due respect, I’m a photographer. When I look at you and your crew, I see greatness. If you don’t mind, I’d like to take your photograph.” And then he’d whip out albums to show his prints like a portfolio.
Jamel Shabazz: Albums is, quite literally, scans of those albums.
“Shabazz may describe himself as an alchemist. But to that I’d add a dreamer.”
A line by Deborah Willis
The book also details how te would teach conflict resolution using a chessboard. And he’d get people to trust him with orange juice and some bananas. It’s all just a testament to how great the man is.
Within the book itself, photographers will find albums of photos of West Germany and Rikers Island. It’s fascinating to think that he was able to do work like this. The images are understated in that very few other people were able to do work like this. Artistically, the images don’t lend themselves to technical excellence – but instead to human excellence. And often, that’s the more difficult thing to do.
Page through the book, and you’ll realize that you often need to rotate it and interact with it the way you would with an actual photo album. I love this fact. Unlike actual photo albums, the images aren’t covered and sleeved. Instead, it’s made on real paper. The paper has a bit of sheen, but not enough to be annoying. The paper feels like a textbook — thought it’s actually worth the price of what it costs instead of being majorly inflated like textbooks often are.
You’re supposed to sit and look at the photographs. And I like that the book is so interactive. Very few photo books make me want to cry, but this one is holistically excellent. Images aren’t split down the middle, and instead you need to physically really interact with the book to make it feel more special.
Jamel Shabazz: Albums is a book that every portrait photographer should consider getting — and that every photographer should have on their shelf. There hasn’t been a book like this that really makes you interact with the medium to see the images for what they really are. And if anything, it should inspire you to make your own album of prints to bring around and show people when you can.
Jamel Shabazz: Albums receives five out of five stars from us, and an Editor’s Choice award as well. Pick up a hardcopy from Amazon.
