Michael Benabib is an American

portrait photographer Portrait photography, or portraiture, is a type of photography aimed toward capturing the personality of a person or group of people by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses. A portrait photograph may be artistic or clinical. Frequentl ...

, known for his portraits of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

Sean Combs Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Ve ...

, and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

among others. Notable portrait photography of public figures include

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law, U.S. constitutional and American criminal law, criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law Sc ...

and

Loretta Lynch Loretta Elizabeth Lynch (born May 21, 1959) is an American attorney who served as the 83rd attorney general of the United States from 2015 to 2017. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to succeed Eric Holder and previously served as the ...

. His work has appeared in publications including Vanity Fair,

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

, GQ,

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

ESPN magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue, with the cover line "NEXT.," was published on March 11, 1998 (cover date March 23, 1998), and featured Ko ...

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

and

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

. His work was included to photography collections on display by

The Smithsonian The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, education and research centers, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded on August 10, 1846, it operates as a trus ...

and

MoMa The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

Hip-hop photography

In the 1980s, Michael freelanced with Rush Management and

Def Jam Records Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

; his photography of musicians include

Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim (), is an American rapper. He is one half of Golden age hip-hop, golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, with whom he released four albums: ''Paid in Full ...

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince were an American hip hop duo from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of the rapper and actor Will Smith (the Fresh Prince) and the turntablist Jeff Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff). Active from 1986 to 1994 an ...

, among many others. In 2007,

Watson-Guptill Publications Watson-Guptill is an American publisher of instructional books in the arts. History The company was founded in 1937 by Ernest William Watson, Ralph Reinhold, and Arthur L. Guptill. They also published the magazine ''American Artist''. Their hea ...

and Billboards Books published “In Ya Grill: The Faces Of Hip-Hop” the hip-hop photography of Michael Benabib and text by

Bill Adler Bill Adler (born December 18, 1951) is an American music journalist and critic. Since the late 1960s, he has worked in the music business in a variety of capacities, including as a record store clerk, radio disc jockey, critic, publicist, biogra ...

Career

In 1995, his editorial photography assignments for magazines include

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

, Adweek,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

ESPN Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue, with the cover line "NEXT.," was published on March 11, 1998 (cover date March 23, 1998), and featured Ko ...

, and Bloomberg Markets Magazine. In 1997, his editorial magazine photography led to advertising assignments for brands including

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 February 1864, ...

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

, Sprite, Lugz,

PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal right ...

and

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

. In the early 2000s, his assignments include Forbes Life Magazine and

Fortune 500 companies The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along w ...

such as

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

CitiBank Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

and

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

, among others.

Exhibitions

In 2003, The Eyejammie Fine Arts Gallery founded by

, largely devoted to hip-hop photography, curated a one-man show showcasing the work of photographer Michael Benabib. In September 2015, the Eyejammie Photo Collection was acquired by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

National Museum of African-American History and Culture The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), colloquially known as the Blacksonian, is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in 2003 an ...

. In 2017,

the Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of arc ...

(MoMa) exhibition titled “Is Fashion Modern?” includes his photography of

. In 2017,

exhibition titled “More Than A Picture” includes his photography acquired from the Eyejammie Photo Collection. In 2018, The Smithsonian exhibition titled “Represent” includes his hip-hop photography of

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a ...

, and

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

. This exhibition showcases different photographs than those displayed at The Smithsonian's exhibition in 2017. In June 2018, Bond Street Print Shop photography exhibition fundraiser to benefit

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...

including print sales of his portrait photography. In 2019, The Annenberg Space For Photography in Culver City, California hosted an exhibit entitled Contact High: A Visual History of Hip Hop, based upon the contents of the book in association with the museum's 10th anniversary. The exhibit included his photography. In 2020, Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop was exhibited at the

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

in New York as part of the inauguration of the ICP's new location at 79 Essex Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Books

In Ya Grill: The Faces of Hip Hop. The hip-hop photography of Michael Benabib
Billboard Books. 2007. .

References

Citations

Books

# Bill Adler; Dan Charnas (2011).
Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label
'. Random House Incorporated. . # Paola Antonelli; Michelle Millar Fisher (5 October 2017).
Items - Is Fashion Modern?
'. Moma. . # Tommy Hilfiger; David A. Keeps (1997)
All-American: A Style Book
Universe Pub. .

General References

# Sussex Publishers, LLC (1996-06)
Spy
Sussex Publishers, LLC. pp. 32, 33, 34, 35, 70.

ISSN An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit to uniquely identify a periodical publication (periodical), such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs a ...

08901759 # Elinor Lipman (2017-02-14)
On Turpentine Lane
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. cover photo. . # Editors of Entertainment Weekly (2015-10-06)
The Must List: Ranking the Best in 25 Years of Pop Culture
Liberty Street. p. 560. . # Minya Oh; Andrea Duncan Mao (2005-08-10)
Bling Bling: Hip Hop's Crown Jewels
Wenner Books. p. 140. . # Reggie Osse; Gabriel Tolliver (2006-10-31)
Bling: The Hip-Hop Jewelry Book
Bloomsbury USA. # Cey Adams; Bill Adler (2008-10-14). DEFinition
The Art and Design of Hip-Hop
HarperCollins. .
Black Enterprise
E.G. Graves Publishing Company. 1999–12. p. 124. # Jay-Z (2010-12-07)
Decoded (Enhanced Edition)
Random House Publishing Group. p. 349. . # Michael W. Small (1992)
Break it Down: The Inside Story from the New Leaders of Rap
Carol Pub. p. 223. .
Que pasa
D.S. Magazines, Incorporated. 1988. p. 5.
Oneworld
New Image Media, Incorporated. 2002. p. 34. # Linda Saylor-Marchant (1992)
Hammer: 2 Legit 2 Quit
Dillon Press. p. 4. . # Andre Stenson; Cloe Anderson; Dan Levine (2006-03)
Avant-Guide New York City: Insiders' Guide to Progressive Culture
Empire Press. . # S. E. Cupp (2010-04-27)
Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media's Attack on Christianity
Simon and Schuster. pp. cover photo. . # Brian J. Robb (2002)
Brad Pitt: The Rise to Stardom
Plexus. pp. cover photo. . # Alonzo Westbrook (2002-10-15)
Hip Hoptionary TM: The Dictionary of Hip Hop Terminology
Crown/Archetype. . # Lili Anolik (2019-01-08)
Hollywood's Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of L.A. Scribner
pp. Author photo. . # Ronin Ro (2009-10-13)
Raising Hell: The Reign, Ruin, and Redemption of Run-D.M.C
and Jam Master Jay. HarperCollins. . # S. E. Cupp; Brett Joshpe (2009-12-01)
Why You're Wrong About the Right: Behind the Myths: The Surprising Truth About Conservatives
Simon and Schuster. . # Stephen J. Dubner (2009-10-13)
Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper. HarperCollins
. # Lauren Groveman (2001–08)
Lauren Groveman's Kitchen: Nurturing Food for Family of Friends
Chronicle Books. pp. Author photo. .
Futures for the Class of ...
Scholastic, Incorporated. 1995.
Hip-hop Connection
Popular Publications. 2007. p. 226. # Anne M. Raso (1992-08-01)
Kris Kross Krazy: A Biography
Random House. p. 56. . # Derek Winnert (1996)
Barbra Streisand
Random House Value Pub. p. 4. .
Television Guide
Triangle Publications. 1991. p. 3.
People
Time. 2005. p. 80. # Jeff Chang (2007-04-01)
Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
St. Martin's Press. p. 528. . # James P. Othmer (2011-03-11)
The Futurist
Doubleday Canada. .

External links

* http://michaelbenabib.com/ * https://www.executivephotosnyc.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Benabib, Michael Living people American portrait photographers Year of birth missing (living people)