Photographer Sheds Light On Underrepresented Communities
Photographer Sheds Light On Underrepresented Communities
By Tia Carol Jones
Malik Zambezi has made a name for himself on social media. Going by the handle MalikShotYou, he takes photos of people and places in Chicago, with the goal of showing the parts of Chicago that aren’t often represented.
Zambezi began taking photos a couple of years ago when he saw a co-worker editing photographs on their computer. Curious, Zambezi asked what the co-worker was doing and he explained the process of editing photos. A few days later, Zambezi was looking at videos on YouTube and one of the suggested videos was about photography. After that, each day, Zambezi would watch photography videos, spending between two and four hours for two months watching photography videos.
After months of watching photography videos, Zambezi got the itch to buy his first professional camera, a Sony 873. He used that camera to take photos of people and things he saw throughout his day. Zambezi said that he chooses the people that he takes photos of based on their appearance or demeanor. Recently, he took a photo of a woman in a yellow hat. Intrigued, he approached the woman and struck up a conversation with the woman and she shared her story.
Zambezi has started hosting art walks where he invites people to join him in neighborhoods and communities to take photos. He said he was inspired after participating in an art walk in Los Angeles. He was able to meet creatives there while walking and taking photos of Crenshaw. He said he felt like a part of the community, even though he doesn’t live there. He decided to bring the concept back to Chicago and hosted his first art walk in late September in Bronzeville, starting out at Metcalfe Park and ending at Shawn Michelle’s Ice Cream on 47th Street. Along the way, ArtWalk participants visited Sip n’ Savor and other notable Bronzeville locations.
More than 100 people showed up to participate in the ArtWalk. Zambezi said he was not surprised by the large turnout for the event. He had hosted events before and there was a decent turnout. He said the ArtWalk is a way to build community through art. He said he wanted to patronize Black owned businesses during the walk because as a resident of Bronzeville he knows the importance of supporting Black owned businesses. Zambezi said his popularity comes from him doing things within the community that people want and need to see.
“I’m the ground level. Instead of watching it on the news, they come to me and watch me for everyday people in Chicago. They can’t get that from anywhere else,” he said.
Zambezi is planning to do an ArtWalk in Roseland in October. He said places like Bronzeville and Roseland are the soul of Chicago and should have the same notoriety as places downtown. He said he is going to make sure his art is focused on areas in the city that aren’t usually photographed.
To see Zambezi’s work, follow him @MalikShotYou on Instagram.
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