Slam Dunk in the Museum

When aspiring authors and illustrators ask me how I got into the field, I tell them that I “snuck in through the back door.” They laugh. Then ask how. And usually I tell them a version of what’s below. But hey, we got time, so here’s the full version. 

Two days after graduating from college in California with a degree in photography, I moved  to New York City. The goal was to work as an assistant to photographers who photographed celebrities and athletes for magazines, book covers and CD covers (remember those?). After learning the business and more photo tips, I would eventually venture out on my own and make a name for myself. That was the dream: to be a big time photographer in New York City, shooting Vanity Fair covers, ads for Nike, book covers for mystery novels, and CD covers of my favorite rap artists. In reality, I started by schlepping copious amounts of heavy gear across every terrain possible, from individual flights of stairs to ice covered sidewalks. I watched in awe as some photographers put together a lighting setup that I etched in my mind. I sighed in my spirit when some photographers held up a picture in a magazine that wasn’t theirs and said, “I need you to recreate that.” I marveled how one person could conceive a larger than life idea in their head, and then execute it, from concept to completion. I wanted that so I hustled. I hustled to get a reputation because then people would start calling me. 

And they did. I traveled the world. Met celebrities, pro athletes, politicians and plenty of other people in between. I have stories I could tell for days, but I’ll get back to this one; it’s a good one. 

As I worked as an assistant, I took pictures for my portfolio. A portfolio is a collection of work that represents your individual style. I had to find mine. One day I was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A Black photographer I wasn’t familiar with had a whole room dedicated to him for a retrospective. A show called Harlem, which featured fifty years of images of that same place. I was mesmerized and inspired. What could I shoot for fifty years without getting bored? Roy DeCarava—the artist from the exhibition—chose Harlem. I chose New York street basketball. I thought: maybe that’ll get me in a museum years from now.  

I took my basketball and camera with me whenever I went to the courts and started photographing. Over the years, I had acquired a number of old cameras, so I shot primarily with those to create a unique look. I had a twin-lens camera that took square pictures. I had a large format 4x5 camera that drew attention on the courts. I had to look down into both to see what I was looking at. The cameras helped initiate conversation that later connected with the images. I focused on the bodies and excluded the face when I took the photos. I wanted the viewer to focus on the beauty of an athlete in motion and not some weird look on the athlete’s face as they are engaged. And since these were the days long before digital, no one could see anything so it made shooting much easier. Everyone played free and I became a regular at several parks across the city. 

I did this for two years. Shooting every season in New York if the opportunity presented itself.  I built up a large collection of images. As I looked through them, I began to curate a portfolio. There was so much variety to choose from. They all had style, and looked good together, but each stood on their own. I would begin showing this portfolio along with another portfolio of my portraits of people. 

I hustled my portfolios around town to all the big names I had hoped to work for. But I also showed it to anyone that was recommended to me. That’s how I ended up at Dutton Children’s Books, a division of Penguin and one of the biggest publishers of children’s books. I was there to meet the art director about doing children’s book covers for them. But when Sarah Reynolds, the art director, invited the editor-in-chief, Karen Lotz into her office, I got excited. And then Karen threw me a curve ball: “You know, these basketball pictures could be their own book.”

What got me into photography in the first place back in high school was writing. I joined the yearbook staff as a writer. But there were only three of us. So everybody did everything. We all learned to take pictures and even though my pictures came out the worst, I was in love with photography. So I smacked that curve ball out of the park.

“You know I can write, too? Poetry in particular.”

Those images and poems would become my first book, Rimshots. It garnered rave reviews, recognition and awards and put me on the map as an artist to watch. I’ve since gone on to create forty-five plus books, earn more awards, including a Coretta Scott King award for Illustration, only the second photographer and first American to win that with photography. 

And it all started when Roy DeCarava images inspired me to create something that might hang in a museum someday. Thanks to CLICK! Photographers Make Picture Books, now it does.