Photos Taken of Artists Before They Were Famous

The cliché about a picture speaking a thousand words continues to ring true in this new insider look at artists before they blew up into becoming stars and legends. Photographer, cinematographer and video director Lisa Leone shares with us a selection of decade-old photographs from her book Here I Am — including captures of The Fugees, Nas, Snoopy Dogg and Mary J. Blige — in angles and perspectives that we may not have seen them in before with their post-fame statuses. In a candid portrait shot of Snoop (Doggy, at the time) Dogg during the filming of his first music video “Who Am I? (What’s My Name)” shows almost a softer, and in her words “vulnerable,” side to him that we as audiences rarely get to witness. Another picture depicts Nas in the middle of thoughtful-discussion with a group during the recording sessions of his classic debut Illmatic. These pictures capture a certain sense of realism by bridging fantasy with reality, almost “humanizing” the artists in ways which we may be unaccommodated to. View some of them in our gallery above and check out the full spread here.