Bronx-born Lisa Leone’s images are infused with sound and motion, pointing to what would become her multi-faceted way of seeing through both still photography and cinema. A student of the acclaimed High School of Art and Design in New York, Leone was later mentored by filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, and brings her rich experiences to the next generation through her position as VP of Artistic Programs for the YoungArts Foundation in Miami. Hip-hop music, dance, art and fashion are presented in Here I Am (Minor Matters), the first monograph of Lisa Leone’s photographs. From Nas in the first studio recordings for what would become Illmatic to Snoop on the set of his first video, from ingénue Debi Mazar hanging on the stoops of the West Village to Grandmaster Flash at a RockSteady reunion, Leone’s photographs open portals to the sounds, places and, most important, the people who forged and continue to influence the energy that is hip-hop.
