Jamel Shabazz is a documentary, fashion and street photographer, author and educator. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1960.
He began photographing his friends and family at the age of fifteen. His father was a photographer and a Navy veteran.
In 1980 he came home to Brooklyn after a 36-month tour in the United States Army and began his life's work as a photographer. In 1983 he joined the New York City Department of Correction.
He is known for the books Back in the Days (powerHouse, 2002) and A Time Before Crack (powerHouse, 2005). Prestel published Prospect Park: Photographs of a Brooklyn Oasis, 1980 to 2025 in October 2025.
He received the Gordon Parks Foundation/Steidl Book Prize in 2022 and the Lucie Award for Documentary in 2023.
