Nadya Kwandibens Captures "Concrete Indians"

Anishinaabe photographer Nadya Kwandibens takes a closer look at the entity of the urban Indigenous artist with her photo series entitled "Concrete Indians".

While sitting on her couch in Toronto, Nadya Kwandibens says she had a revelation. Thinking about Indigenous artists in this contemporary urban setting, she asked herself “What rests at the core of it all and how does one maintain their identity as a cultural Native person in the city?”

Pondering upon the ideas of cultural identity in the city and whether or not it is strengthened or weakened by the conceptualized ideologies of city life for Native peoples, Nadya decided to do something about it with her own artistic prowess. Asking the question "Who are you as a Native person in the city?", she sent off an email asking Indigenous artists to submit their portrait ideas, and within minutes she was fielding dozens of replies.

Acting as a conduit of artistic expression, Nadya went forth to record the images of dozens of Indigenous artists across Canada, from comedians to musicians to Powwow dancers, she has captured the colourful energies of these Indigenous artists in the light of a contemporary urban setting, while helping the artist to tell their story with an image of Indigeneity.

The name “Concrete Indians” came from a term explained by her father to be what the old people would call the Natives that would come home from the city. Nadya’s roots are with the Northwest Angle #37 First Nation in Ontario, Canada.

Along with the Concrete Indians project that she does on her own time, she is the owner and operator of a company called Redworks Studio who’s main focus is artist portraits as well as other photography initiatives. With Redworks, she tours North America photographing Indigenous artist portraits and is currently working on a calendar and building her portfolio.

For more info on photographer Nadya Kwandibens and her work, check out her website Redworks.ca

Ernie Paniccioli: Cree Hip-hop Photographer

Cree photographer, artist, author and activist Ernie Paniccioli has been bringing us photos of the hugest names from the Old School of Hip-hop era and other icons in the world of entertainment for three decades and still bringing it full force.

When we think of the Old School era of Hip-hop, certain names like Slick Rick, Grandmaster Flash, Rock Steady Crew, Doug E. Fresh, Ice Cube, Queen Latifah, Public Enemy, Salt-N-Pepa, and so many more come to mind. Aside from the stars on stage that bring us the music we bump to, there are people behind the scenes that bring us the vision of all of this. One of these people is Ernie Paniccioli.

Ernie's adventure into the world of Hip-hop starts in 1973 where he and a 35-millimetre camera started to document the graffiti culture of New York. From there he has brought us images of a developing artform from the streets of New York to the multi-billion dollar industry as all know so well. When reading through Ernie's accomplishments as a photographer, it reads like a who's who of Hip-hop history. All the places Hip-hoppers have dreamed of being in the early days of the craft, Ernie was there to witness and bring the images to life for posterity.

Not only is Ernie regarded as the premiere "Hip-hop photographer in America", he is also a renowned artist, author, activist and public speaker, sharing his knowledge at universities and forums around Turtle Island. He was chosen by Hip-hop legend KRS-One to speak on behalf of the Temple Of Hip-hop to the United Nations at the Hip-hop Peace Summit in May of 2001.

As the Chief photographer of Word Up! Magazine since 1989 and when Biggie Smalls was still reading it, he has been the eyes of the Hip-hop movement since before some of the newest Hip-hoppers were even born. His work has appeared in publications like  The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, Life, Rolling Stone, Spin, Vibe, Ebony, and The Source and XXL Magazine. Outside being a Hip-hop photographer, he has photographed people such as Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli, and John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Britney Spears just to name a few.

As a member of the Hip-hop institution entitled the Universal Zulu Nation and the Temple of Hip-hop, he has gained acclaim from the Grandmaster himself, Afrika Bambaataa who had this to say about him:

“We the Hip Hop World Nation and Beyond Earth must always respect our brother for what he has offered to our World Hip Hop Nation and that is his science of taking fantastic pictures of our Hip Hop World. All praise Due to the Supreme Force for our warrior, father, thinker, teacher, speaker, historian, powerful photographer. The Hip Hop Photo King”

In today's world of commercialized Hip-hop industry, we are quick to lose touch with the roots of where this art came from that we all appreciate so much. It's amazing to have the documentation and knowledge from someone like Brother Ernie Paniciolli to keep these days of purity before corporations were watching accessible for people to learn from.

For an extensive look into Brother Ernie's career, check out this link below: The Ernie Paniccioli Fan Club

Here's a video portfolio of some of Ernie's work: