Exclusive Interview: Photographer Jalani Morgan
Jalani Morgan is a Toronto-based photographer who you may know from his commissioned photos of Drake (live at the OVO Fest) for The Source. Or maybe you don’t know him, as we always seem to know the photographs but not the men and women behind them. So now is our opportunity to get to know one of these amazing talents in Jalani Morgan. Jalani has shot the likes of Justin Nozuka, The Airplane Boys, Lights, Margaret Atwood, and a portfolio of other spectacular subjects.
Alright, let’s knock this thing out. How’d you get into photography, from the beginning?
In 2003 my girlfriend at the time bought me a camera for my birthday.
A digital camera?
No, it was a film camera actually. It was a film camera, so I was shooting 35 mm first, and from thereon the addiction began. I wasn’t a high school photographer. I didn’t have aspirations of being a photographer during my early 20’s and teens. All I remember is my dad had this camera. It was a Yashica. I remember he had it and when I started to shoot photography I was like, “Ah, man, I really wish I had that camera.” But he lost it in St. Vincent. I think that’s what sparked my affinity for old cameras. That’s why I really like old cameras, because of my dad’s old camera.
That’s where you’re from, St. Vincent?
That’s where my parents are from. Yeah, both of them are from St. Vincent.
And you were born here?
Yes, I was born here… But from then on I started working at the bank.
Which bank?
TD Bank.
[laughs] That’s my bank.
I worked at TD Bank for like seven years, man.
Doing what?
I worked as a teller and then I worked in collections, which is the thing that actually stole my soul, because I had to take money out of people’s accounts and I don’t know, I’m bit of a man of the people I guess you could say. I know that sounds cheesy, but I really can relate to the 99th percentile. So to do that, to take people’s money, it just didn’t speak to my sensibilities. It didn’t speak to helping someone else’s vision. But that’s what working at a bank is, you’re just a machine, you’re just the oil in that machine. I couldn’t do it. But at the same time I was shooting parties. I used to go to house parties, house music parties, so I’d shoot the culture, the nightlife.
Andreena Mill and Lissa Monet Ready To Fly Mixtape
How long after was that, from when you started?
Um, not long after, because I started to go out into that scene in 2004, 2005, so from then on I used to bring my camera everywhere I went. I was always shooting. It was an obsession from the start. I definitely still have obsessive behavior now, but looking back at my past, everywhere I went I would be shooting.
Was there a moment when it went from fun to like, “This is serious now. This is how I’m going to earn my living”?
Probably somewhere between 2006, 2007. There wasn’t like a pivotal moment, per se, when I was like, “This is it, I want to be photographer.” But from all the moments I was creating I knew I didn’t want to do anything else. And then to backtrack a little bit, two years prior to me actually having a camera, a friend of ours, there was like a crew of four of us, we would go out and shoot photographs all the time. If it wasn’t Polaroid photos it would be those little strip ones, you know back in the day those little strip ones?
Yeah, yeah.
Any way we could have got a camera- I can’t say we did it illegally [laughs], but if there was a way of getting a hold of a camera, we’d always find a way to pool our money. I just had a conversation with a friend of mine and I remembered that. For like three years in a row every day I hung out with these people and likely one out of the three days- or really four out of the seven days we were taking photographs, so photographs have always been around me. But I never really understood that until later on. I was like, “Wow, pictures have always been a part of my life.”
Why do you think you do that? Is that like a tic, that you have to record everything? Do you keep a journal?
I never kept a journal. I always enjoyed communication. I did speech arts when I was a kid, but I never really honed that. I always liked communicating, and I felt that photography was my best way to communicate. A lot of things were happening and I always wanted to communicate what was happening. Then flash forward to 2004, 2005, 2006, I’m hustling, I made it a mission to say, “I want to be a photographer.” I always enjoyed album covers. I never knew who any of these people were who shot them, but I always gravitated towards photographs. In mid-2007, going into 2008, I took a workshop that was recommended by a friend, led by a photographer by the name of Steve Carty. And much like I did with you when I was searching you, I searched back to see who this Steve Carty was, and I’m like, “Holy shit, you shot Kardinal, you shot DMX, you shot Phil Collins, you shot Radiohead.” And he used to shoot for Pound Magazine a lot, and I remember seeing these magazines back in my brother’s barbershop, and I remembered those times, like, “Holy shit, this is the guy who shot it.” So I walk into the workshop and he looks just like me, black guy, dreads. On a surface level I’m like, “That’s crazy.” This guy was able to carve a career as a photographer, and I felt like if I could see myself through him that I could do this myself. And I took the workshop to learn some lighting, because I was self-taught, right? I just took a course.
With Carty?
Yeah, it was with him.
So he was kind of your role model and he taught you?
Yeah.
At the same time.
Yeah.
That’s incredible, that you were able to do that.
I didn’t even know, you know? So I took a workshop, myself and three other photographers. After the workshop he asked me to be his apprentice. I’m like, “Yes.” At the time I was working at Black’s, so I was like, “Chea, I got to go.” And the beautiful thing was that I was on Holidays, so I came back- Because it was a weekend workshop. On the Monday I came back, and came back on the Tuesday, and came back on the Thursday, and came back on the Friday. I was like, “Dude, I’m going to do anything.” “Anything? Sweet.” “You need coffee? You need anything?” I saw his life and I was like, “This is the life I want.” And then I had to go back to work, because it was over. I’m like, “Are you kidding me? I can’t go back and work at Black’s. There’s no way, no way, no way, no way, no way.” Peter, I tell you, I couldn’t do it. And I just moved downtown-
So you didn’t do it.
I left my house, I moved downtown, and I’m like, “I’m going to quit my job.”
Did you have any money?
None, little, some. I was always working through the cheque of someone else. I was always getting paid by TD, or I was always getting paid by Black’s, I wasn’t creating my own income.
Were your parents okay with that?
Yes and no-ish. They always knew it was my mission to become a photographer, and my mom’s self-employed too, and has been for 30 years now.
Doing what?
She has a hair design- like a hair salon. Self-employment is a part of her life, so I figured she might be okay with it because I’m doing it myself. I looked, and said to myself, “I can’t do this anymore.” I quit my job and I was like [to Steve Carty], “Dude, I got your back.” And he was like, “Wicked.”
That’s when you went full-on.
Full-on.
How old were you at that time?
26. That was an experience. At the same time there was someone else who was apprenticing under Carty. His name was Javier Lovera, another one of my early mentors and friends. He was there as well, so I learned through both of them, just having different perspectives on things. At the time Javier had been shooting for two years and I was green.
At that time did you have stuff of your own that you were getting out to magazines, or was it more of an education?
Both, because I was a promoter as well in the city, so the entertainment world was my world as well. A lot of the people in that industry knew me as a promoter but didn’t know me as a photographer, so I managed to do some stuff. I shot my mom for Share Magazine. Very early I shot for another magazine which I don’t even think is in existence anymore. A lot of things happened really quickly in my first year and it was really strange. The first year was apprenticing, and then I got kicked out the nest and it’s like, “Alright homie, you’re on your own.” I started to pay rent and I started to hustle my own jobs. My first real large job was with this advertising agency, shooting Tetley Tea. I shot a Tetley cup and I made like 4 digits out of it. I had a really good network of people who believed in me, which is why I was able to be afforded this opportunity to be a photographer.
Were these payments consistent though, or did it feel like every blue moon you’d score a job?
It was all over the place. It’s a mental fuck. This photography thing is a mental fuck. Sometimes you’re hot and getting jobs. Others times you’re not and you’re like, “What about me?” You always have these internal battles about your own creativity, but this thing’s a marathon. It’s about consistently staying at it, having good people around you.
How do you manage financially?
I’m still trying to. [laughs] I’m still trying to, to be honest. This is now my third year in business and I’m finding some inroads and carving myself a comfortable life. I still have to really hustle, for sure, because there’s a lot of amazing photographers in the city, and there’s so little- Not that there’s so little jobs, but the photographers that are so amazing are getting these jobs. I’m still the new kid on the block, somewhat. That’s why I shoot a lot, to create content for myself, so people can see it and eventually it’ll catch up, and it has been. I’ve had the opportunity to work with a magazine locally that has afforded me with content that I’m able to like.
Which one?
It’s a music magazine. It’s called Off The Map Magazine.
Who have you shot for that?
The first person I shot for that was Justin Nozuka.
I saw that. Girls love that guy.
Love him. Love him. They love this guy.
I don’t see it- [laughs]
Cool guy. It was cool spending time with him. But my first actually celebrity was Lights. She’s in the pop world. She’s the one who did the Michael Jackson pose on my website. Much like the girls love Justin the boys love Lights. Cute girl, plays World of Warcraft, comic chick, tattoos, definitely a looker. I was able to shoot her for Verve Magazine. That was a big one for me within the industry, because they knew who she was, and that was as her first album was coming out. That was her first big push and I was able to shoot her, which was cool.
Life Cycle Photo Exhibit – Toronto
So what’s better when you’re coming up, shooting big stars for lower-profile mags, or doing an insignificant job for a larger magazine and getting paid more?
There’s pros and cons, and I think there’s a good balance when it comes to my brand. It’s all about the content for me. If the place where it’s going to go looks like crap I don’t want to be attached to that, because it reflects my brand and it reflects the type of stuff that I do. Mags like Off The Map have a really good aesthetic, a really good design aesthetic, so because of that my work looks great along with it, and there’s a good perception of it because it’s an online magazine- It just looks really great.
I’m sure this is stuff young photographers might overlook…?
Yep, there’s so enthused about getting published that they don’t see the bigger picture.
You have to calculate your moves.
Always, dude. A big sensibility for me as well is music. I really enjoy music. It’s something that I’ve grown up on. When I was growing up on my photography it was just me in my mom’s basement hitting away on photoshop, learning everything and on that hustle. I remember listening to Little Brother all the time. When they first came out in ‘04, or when I was introduced to them in ‘04, that was like the soundtrack to my life back then.
I still haven’t gotten into that album yet, The Listening. I think I need to age a little bit first.
[laughs] You will, because you’re the same age that I was when I was listening to it. It might work, it might speak to you. It always spoke to me, and kept me going. I would spend time in front of my computer and just listen to music.
So you’re okay working on your stuff while listening to music. It helps you.
I get inspired by it. I think there’s a different marriage between photographers and musicians, because my musician friends all look at photos to get inspired.
Or movies.
Yeah, or movies. And for me I listen to music to inspire me. A friend of mine, his name’s Chin, he has a Grammy Award, he won a Grammy because he produced for Eminem, he’s done stuff for 50 Cent, he’s done stuff for Drake, and we always have these conversations about music and visuals and how we inspire each other that way. I’ve shot a lot of musicians as a result. I’ve shot The Airplane Boys, I’ve shot Justin Nozuka, I’ve shot A-Game who have their movement going on. What’s happening is I’m shooting a lot of them before they breakthrough and then find out that they make it a little later. Which is cool.
Are you picking people who you think are going to blow up, like an A&R almost?
I really wish I had a forecast like that. I cannot say I’m an expert in forecasting.
That would be a good strategy for photographers.
Totally, and right now the magazines tend to put me with people I’m going to get along with, because I end up being their friends, literally. On top of that I really enjoy their music. All of a sudden I’m like, “Oh, you’re going to go to Coachella, holy crap.” “Oh, you’re working with Illangelo, holy crap.” Or Curtis Santiago, he’s a musician, visual artist, and he’s going to be on his way in a very short period of time. So to see and document this culture prior to it hitting the mainstream is very rewarding. I love being a part of it.
What other work do you do, besides music and hip-hop?
I’ve shot an indie folk band. Totally not hip-hop at all.
And Margaret Atwood.
And Margaret Atwood. Margaret Atwood is definitely like- It’s funny because I’m been familiar with Margaret Atwood since high school. I didn’t read her books because they were too far out for me, right?
I don’t think anyone chooses to read them. [laughs]
But you know her because she’s a legend. She’s like Canadiana at its finest.
She’s a voice for sure…
She’s a voice. She’s definitely a voice. So when I tell some of my friends, like, “I shot Margaret Atwood,” they’re like, “Oh my God, are you kidding me? Margaret Atwood?” Sometimes it’s fun to go on the opposite end of the spectrum and do things like that, like being able to shoot Malcolm Gladwell, talking to him. I like talking, if you haven’t noticed, I like having conversations. With the advent of Twitter, Facebook, Google chat, texting, we don’t have these organic conversations anymore. So being able to spend time with people while I’m shooting them, I really try to build a relationship with them. That’s why I think my photographs look authentic, because there are authentic moments happening. It’s a memory.
Similar to your other idol, Jamel-
Jamel Shabazz, exactly. You could tell from his photographs that he was building relationships with these communities as well.
You ever worry that your stuff looks too much like his?
I’m aware of the fact that I know him, but I was shooting photography before I even knew his name. I’ve known his photographs and I don’t mind being influenced by him. I don’t mind it because it’s actually just like passing on a tradition. Just like recipes, we pass on traditions. Our elders pass them on to us. We pass on stories, and I always say it on my Twitter now, that I respect my elders. Because if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing now. If I’m influenced by them, so be it. But I take that gift and I respect it.
Cool. Could you go through the technical things? What do you shoot with? Run them off while I drink my coffee and pretend to know what you’re talking about.
[laughs] I have a Canon 7D, I have a Holga camera, I have a 35 mm Fujica camera (specifically an ST701), I have a Voigtländer Brillant which was Gordon Parks’ first camera, not his first camera sadly but the camera that he used. I also have Kodak Hawk-Eye from 1927 that was made in Toronto, which I thought was so cool. I did a fashion story using that camera and a new camera, mixing the history. I have a profound respect for history and I like to show that through my photography.
You use Photoshop?
Yeah, I use Photoshop. I’m not anchored by it. I don’t like retouching my photographs so that people look like plastic.
Like claymation.
I don’t want that to happen. Because I like film and I like that quality. I try to have that kind of feeling in my photographs, digitally, as much as I can.
Times Neue Roman
- By Peter Marrack
