From Aaliyah to Jay-Z: Captured moments in hip-hop history - Jonathan Mannion

This is The Notorious B.I.G., 1995,

the Palladium nightclub, New York City.

What really I want to talk about is

my dedication, my 100% focus,

and finding something that I love,

my passion point.

I fought to be on this stage,

to be able to stand next to Lil' Kim

and take all these pictures to create

one definitive photo.

A photo that was the most important

of anything that I took.

And I really wanted it for future generations

to be able to feel the energy that was in that room,

and certaintly you can feel that right there.

I'm a photographer, this is what I do for a living.

I chase these moments,

these fractions of seconds,

that will never be the same again.

You can't take this picture again because I took it,

and he's no longer with us, sadly, rest in peace.

The definitive portrait of that person, in that moment,

is what I strive for every single time out,

like when you close your eyes

and think of a picture of Jay-Z,

I want it to be my picture.

So far, so good.

Eight album covers for Jay-Z later,

I'm not doing too bad.

Aaliyah. Gorgeous and amazing,

and I really spent proper time with her,

conversing, having a conversation,

connecting to her,

which I find is a big part of my work.

That connection, to be able to have a conversation,

to say you're doing great,

to say why I want a certain picture and a certain attitude.

In this moment, we talked about shooting in the Caribbean,

and it's sort of a passion point for me,

Caribbean culture, Trinidad, Barbados, Jamaica,

and I said, "We should do a photo shoot there

because I think it would be incredible."

And she said, "Yeah, you know, let's do it."

You know, as we're taking these beautiful pictures,

all this is happening,

I'm continuing to converse with her and really connect.

So, she believed in my vision at that moment,

you know, even while all the work was happening

there was a human connection that happened.

At the end of the day,

I have people sign Polaroids

just as kind of a diary for myself.

And she wrote,

"I can't wait for the Caribbean. I'll see you then."

(Exhales)

You've got to take a breath. You've got to take a breath.

She's missed incredibly.

And I think what the reminder is

that these moments are really precious,

and you really have to take the time to connect to them,

to be part of that process,

to make a difference in people's lives in that moment.

You never know how you're affected by somebody,

clearly I am, you can see it,

but you never know how you affect that person,

how you make that moment a little more important for them.

This is my good friend Drake.

I had the opportunity to work with him

for the FADER magazine.

He is a beast and one of my favorites.

He's my friend.

I shot him for three different days,

two in New York, and he had just signed his record deal.

He said, "What's most important to me

is going home to Toronto to celebrate with my family."

So, we went home. We flew home.

And he said, "I've got to do a pit stop.

I've got to go see my grandmother in the afternoon,

and so you probably don't want to bother with that."

I said, "It would be an honor to meet your grandmother."

I asked for what I wanted.

I asked for access that nobody else had

because this is what makes a photographer sort of greater,

to have a picture that somebody else doesn't have.

We want these unique moments.

I asked for these moments, right?

And I'm reminded of a story.

He said, "Grandma, I just got millions of dollars.

I just signed a record deal.

I've got millions of dollars

from Cash Money Universal and Young Money."

And she said, "A million dollars?"

He said, "No Grandma, millions of dollars. What do you want?"

And she said, "I want a kiss, and I want a hug."

Again, the reminder of, like, why we do this.

It also revealed for me another layer of Drake as a character,

and how important this guy is,

you know, his message.

He's not just about the limelight and self-serving.

He's connected to these moments

as much as I was connected to this moment as a photographer.

I know everybody does this everyday,

they ask DMX to get in a pool of blood.

This was my challenge this day.

I needed to get him to see my vision.

I was very clear in what I wanted for

"Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood,"

which was his album cover.

You know, I envisioned photographs of him in this pool of blood,

just making these things happen, you know?

And what was difficult was he didn't see it

the same way I saw it, right?

He walked in, and he had these pants on. Brand new pants.

Everybody feels fresh when they have brand new pants on, right?

He said, "I'm not getting in that pool of blood."

I said, "Oh yes, you're going to get in that pool of blood."

You know? And he said,

"No, my dogs, I'm not getting in that pool of blood."

And I said, "My dude, you're going to get in that pool of blood."

And in a bold statement, using all the psychology knowledge

that I had from my schooling at Kenyon College,

I dropped my pants in front of 40 people on a set

that all were, like, stunned.

DMX laughed.

He said, "Alright, my dude,

put your pants back on, and I'll get in the blood."

One of the most epic photos that we've ever created

in this hip-hop movement.

I'm on home soil. I'm in New Orleans.

We've got to give love to Lil Wayne.

Lil Wayne is an incredible MC,

and the biggest point that I want to drive home here

is about the opportunity to create

somebody's legacy with them,

to take pictures, to see them grow.

It was about trust in the moment

and understanding that you could make a difference,

have a communication,

see somebody elevate and move forward,

to take a variety of different pictures, you know?

Him in a spacesuit.

He's a Martian, you know, what can I say, you know?

But it was about seeing his growth,

and having an important role

and communication with this guy in the moment.

DJ Quick once said, "Isn't it incredible

how you make people see your vision in hip-hop?

The way that people look at hip-hop is through your eyes."

I'm really, really proud of what I've created,

what I've done, and passionately working

to make quality work constantly.

It's not about taking a photo.

For me, it's about giving a photo

to people that believe in it so much. Thank you.