Pride NYC 2023
Pride March (NYC) is hands down one of my favorite events to shoot, and I always look forward to it on my calendar. I didn’t make it out to Dance Africa (B.A.M. Africa) so this is the first major event I’m covering this year and wanted to push myself to create those immersive photos I was known for back when I did event photography.
The Pride March (NYC) is hands down one of my favorite events to shoot, and I always look forward to it on my calendar. I didn’t make it out to Dance Africa (B.A.M. Africa) so this is the first major event I’m covering this year and wanted to push myself to create those immersive photos I was known for back when I did event photography.
I attended my first Pride this year in New York City. I didn’t get the full experience being the official Pride march was a “virtual” event, however, i did get to cover several events over the weekend. Protests and gatherings in the city that i feel very much the true spirit of Pride as the community still fights for rights and respect throughout the world.
To achieve this i decide to bring out my trusty Canon 7D Mark II with my OG 24-105mm L lens. (You see below in the shots from the Washington Square Park Fountain shots where i really put this set up to use) as well as my daily setup of the Canon EOS R with the RF 85mm F/2 IS STM lens. With the 7D being almost 10 years old and the 24-105 even older i wanted to create a cohesive photoset that didn’t have a drop off in quality between the cameras. I would to see if yall can tell which camera is which in some of the telephoto shots.
I like to get my beauty sleep after staying til 3 am so naturally I made it out to the Pride March around the start time, ( which if you cover events like this you know its a ridiculous idea lol.) and with my luck, they started the march 30 mins early lmao. So I spend 15 minutes running around in hopes of finding a cool police officer that let me through the barricades of course this would never happen without those coveted press credentials I mentioned in a previous post. I eventually made it through and began to capture these beautiful moments you see below.
After maybe an hour of walking down 5th Ave I began to get bored so i decided to break off a little earlier than normal since I wasn’t on assignment, said fuck it, and found my way to Washington Square to setup up for the fountain shots. Now the fountain gets crazy once those who have indulged in some “fire water” show up, but I was there so early that there were a few parents and their kids swimming in the shallow waters of the fountain. This gave me some time to get out the 7D and my lens cloths. As you can see from the show there water splashing every where so the lens cloths were mandatory! (I brought two lens larges lens cloths knowing what I was getting into and it still wasn’t enough.)
I might have to share my key to getting water out of my camera body and lenses in a future post.
To check out the full Pride 2023 Photoset Click here.
The goal was to outdo my last year's photos and capture the love and joy the community has for each other and I hope I did that with this photoset. I have some ideas to step up my documentation for next year’s coverage cause I brought my GoPro along and didn’t even use it. My next event on the calendar is Afropunk 2023 but i might hit Curlfest and i believe Essencefest might be back in NYC. Follow me on Twitter to keep up with photography and where you might catch me next.
til next time…
NYC Pride March & Queer Liberation March 2022 close out Pride Month With A Bang!
This year marks the 52nd year since the first Pride March commemorating the Historic Stonewall Riots. This is my second consecutive year documenting Pride Weekend, and it’s definitely an event that I look forward to covering. Here is my NYC Pride 2022 photoset. I covered 3 different events which included the NYC Pride March, Queer Liberation March, and the Washington Square “After Party”.
This year marks the 52nd year since the first Pride March commemorating the Historic Stonewall Riots. This is my second consecutive year documenting Pride Weekend. This weekend also marked my return to journalism, with NYC Pride being my first serious coverage of an event since the George Floyd protest.
I started out my day heading to the NYC Pride March, which starts at 5th Ave & 25th street. Unfortunately it took me about 15 minutes to find and entrance on to the roadway. (during large parades NYPD usually barricades the street corners) But once I found a crosswalk for the parade I was able to flash my Press Passes and ready to get to work.
I didn't stay at the NYC Pride March very long though, the feel of the event just didn't fee l”authentic”. If you know the history behind Pride and the Stonewall Riots, you understand NYC is just the corporate commercialization of a radical movement. So after about an hour I headed down to Foley Square where the Queer Liberation March was being held.
New York Fashion Week 2022, Street Style and Beauty
NYFW is back in New York City. 2022 marks my third consecutive year covering shooting Street style and I honestly say though I’m not big on fashion, I do love the energy around New York Fashion Week. What started out as a way for me to practice my portraiture has now become a catalyst for peers respecting my eye and companies looking to pay me to shoot their events and artist wanting to jump in front of my lens.
NYFW is back in New York City. 2022 marks my third consecutive year covering shooting Street style and I honestly say though I’m not big on fashion, I do love the energy around New York Fashion Week. What started out as a way for me to practice my portraiture has now become a catalyst for peers respecting my eye and companies looking to pay me to shoot their events and artist wanting to jump in front of my lens.
End Of the Weak 2x World Champion, Osyris Antham continues to be mentioned in the same realm as Hip-hop's legends by Lupe Fiasco.
For those of you who have followed me and my journey in the NYC art scene, you know I always credit Nasiyr, better known as Osyris Antham, for me even becoming a member of Legendary Cyphers and becoming acquainted with most of the artist that I know today. From the first time I heard him rap at Nicholas Brooklyn, a small A variety shop, I immediately recognised his talent. I bring this up because recently well respected Emcee and Grammy-nominated lyricist has championed Osyris as one of the best Emcee in the world.
For those of you who have followed me and my journey in the NYC art scene, you know I always credit Nasiyr, better known as Osyris Antham, for me even becoming a member of Legendary Cyphers and becoming acquainted with most of the artist that I know today. From the first time I heard him rap at Nicholas Brooklyn, a small African-centered variety shop, I immediately recognized his talent. I bring this up because recently well-respected Emcee and Grammy-nominated lyricist has championed Osyris as one of the best Emcees in the world. Even putting his well-respected opinion on the line against veteran Emcee and Detroit native Royce Da 5’9”. So I thought it would be only right to bring back this moment I happened to be present and personally documenting for the culture. Below you can see the rounds for Osyris’ third U.S. title defense where he destroyed his competition in front of no other than Lupe Fiasco himself.
OSYRIS ANTHAM ROUNDS • End of the Weak 2019 US Emcee Challenge
Do you think we will get an Osyris Antham vs Royce Da 5’9” battle? Check out Mickey Factz IG Live to see how this all came about. The underground hip-hop scene hasn't seen this kind of buzz since another heralded emcee by the name of Joe Budden decided to challenge a top battle rapper.
If you want to check out the full performance for the EODubb (End of the Weak) MC 2019 U.S. Challenge just check out the link below. You can see performance from Mickey Factz, the whole End of the Weak family, the complete U.S. MC Challenge as well as a rare freestyle from Lupe Fiasco himself.
(Sidenote: I recorded this entire event by myself standing in one spot for almost 5 hours including waiting for the event to begin and guarding the best angle for the stream. lol, never again I should have charged them 5x for that. I was exhausted)
Over the last 20 years the MC Challenge has been held in over 25 countries across 5 continents. Over a dozen countries are active each year, with entrants competing in regional competitions and the winner advancing to the National Finals. Every year, each nation sends one champion to represent their country in the annual World Finals, where one MC is crowned the new World Champion.
Learn More About the World Finals
The first-ever MC Challenge was held during August, 2000 in the back of a restaurant in NYC’s Lower East Side and featured Immortal Technique and WebbaFied. Other Challengers and Champions include: Hasan Salaam, Jin, Iron Solomon, Immortal Technique, Pack FM, Pumpkinhead, Reef Da Lost Cause, Breez Evahflowin, C-Rayz Walz, Poison Pen and many more.
The MC Challenge was invented as the evolution of the MC Battle. We envisioned a unique competition that tests the most talented MCs on a wide set of skills. In the MC Challenge, contestants compete in five rounds: Beat Juggling, Written’s, A Capella’s, Cypha’s, and the crowd favorite: Freestyle Grab Bag.
During the event a panel of judges awards points for lyrics, creativity, stage presence, delivery and crowd reaction. We pride ourselves on the love of competition, the mutual respect and the talent level of the MCs who compete.
Street Style at New York Fashion Week 2020 Fall/Winter
Here are some of my favorite photos from the streets outsides New York Fashion Week 2020 Fall/Winter. “NYFW The Shows” at Spring Studios in SoHo is the Heart the Annual New York City annual Fashion Week Showcase. The famed studio at 50 Varick Street will be hosting over 55 designers this year, featuring the likes of Tadashi Shoji, Jeremy Scott, Rebecca Minkoff, Raisavanessa and Nicole Miller.
Here are some of my favorite photos from the streets outsides New York Fashion Week 2020 Fall/Winter. “NYFW The Shows” at Spring Studios in SoHo is the Heart the Annual New York City annual Fashion Week Showcase. The famed studio at 50 Varick Street will be hosting over 55 designers this year, featuring the likes of Tadashi Shoji, Jeremy Scott, Rebecca Minkoff, Raisavanessa and Nicole Miller. I’m known for my journalism and street photography so of course, I’ll be shooting the real show, the style of today’s bloggers, models and designers who inspire what eventually hits the runway.
I’ll be updating this blog post throught out the week so check back for more shots .
-Issa
NO PANTS SUBWAY RIDE 2020 NYC
Every year hundreds of New Yorkers participate in the “No Pants Subway Ride Prank”, organized by the local organization Improv Everywhere. The event which originally started out with just 7 New Yorkers is now a global. The 2020 No Pants Subway Ride Pranks has gone international including the proper English translation of “No Trousers Tube Ride” for our friends across the pond. Though I’ve been in NYC for the last 20+ years this is my first time attending the event. (And no i didn’t go pantsless. lol)
Every year hundreds of New Yorkers participate in the “No Pants Subway Ride Prank”, organized by the local organization Improv Everywhere. The event which originally started out with just 7 New Yorkers, is now global. The 2020 No Pants Subway Ride Pranks has spread all over the world including the proper English translation of “No Trousers Tube Ride” for our friends across the pond. Though I’ve been in NYC for the last 20+ years this is my first time attending the event. (And no i didn’t go pantsless. lol)
The attendees got a blessing this year, given its usually below 30 degrees. This winter we’ve been hit with some unbelievably warm weather. So the pantsless straphangers got to shower of the best undergarments in almost 70-degree weather. I guess this might be the warmest day in the event’s history. The event was interesting, to say the least with lots of weird guys taking cellphone pics from very questionable low angles 🤔, but i can say its overall great. Checkout out my photoset below from this year’s prank.
Meanwhile in NYC ...
— ISSA KHARI (@IssaKhari) January 12, 2020
.@ImprovEvery #NoPantsSubwayRide pic.twitter.com/l6nNe5lOkj
Lupe Fiasco blesses EOW with an effortless freestyle!
Lupe Fiasco was present during one of the biggest events in the NYC hiphop scene. Lupe lent his ear to the End of the Weak U.S. finals as a judge, sending one Emcee to Belgium to compete with other National finalist
Lupe Fiasco was present during one of the biggest events in the NYC hiphop scene. Lupe lent his ear to the End of the Weak U.S. finals as a judge, sending one Emcee to Belgium to compete with other National finalist. But before the hosts would reveal who the panel of judges (which included the likes of Poisen Pen, Mickey Factz) declared winner, they pleaded for some bars from the Chicago lyricist! Luckily for us Lupe was feeling generous. Lol
I had the pleasure of shooting these beautiful Black Women for the Black-owned business Goddess Body. Nestreya, Jasmine Nichole, and Reign APIIM. I've known Jasmine Nichole for years and was my first time formally meeting Nestreya. Of course, those who follow my Instagram account, know I've been working with Reign for the last few months… she is literally my neighbor.