Leica Portrait: Jonathan Mannion
A Cleveland, Ohio native, Jonathan Mannion began capturing images of up-and-coming urban music superstars after working for a year with world-renowned photographer Richard Avedon. In 1996, he launched his professional career by shooting the photographs for the classic hip-hop album “Reasonable Doubt” by Jay-Z. In the years since, Jonathan’s photography has grown alongside the culture he so loves, helping to visually define an era of urban music. As DJ Quik once pointed out to him, the world sees hip-hop through his eyes. However, he is modestly circumspect about his role. “I’m just a messenger,” he observes, “and I’ve been given a talent to document an extremely important era of music history. I have a love for hip-hop that goes back to when I was a teenager, and I feel blessed to have had the chance to shoot the artists I’ve worked with. I’ve had the opportunity to grow with them and the photos I’ve shot over the years have become visual bullet points of their creative evolution and mine.”
Young Gracie at Ford Los Angeles visits for a quick session. Photography by Jonathan Waiter.
New York Fashion Week: Behind the scenes
The first New York Fashion Week in 1943 (then called Press Week) was the world’s first organized fashion week. It was designed to attract attention away from French fashion during World War II, when industry insiders were unable to travel to Paris to see the fashion shows. As fashion has evolved, so has the New York event, now branded Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and held in February and September each year. It’s one of four major fashion weeks held around the world, along with London, Paris, and Milan. Each year, the 232,000 attendees at the two New York Fashion Weeks account for more than $466 million in direct visitor spending and contribute to $1.6 billion in annual tax revenue to the city’s fashion industry. More than $40 million annually is spent on meals at local restaurants; nearly $30 million on taxis, Town Cars, and public transportation; and an additional $56 million at area hotels. This is a look behind the scenes, behind the fashion. — Paula Nelson
