Before They Were Famous with Lisa Leone
Filmed by Jorge Gonzalez Graupera
It’s easy to reminisce with Lisa Leone, the photographer and filmmaker who has arguably captured some of the more iconic artists in hip hop before they were famous. Interestingly, the most fascinating aspects of Lisa’s work isn’t who she photographs, but how she photographs them. A moment of quiet stolen in a crowd; kids playing in the hot sun; and red and black lumberjacks with the hat to match, together, paint a portrait of a time that has indelibly shaped contemporary culture.
Born in the Bronx and currently based in Miami, Lisa began her career as a photographer, capturing the earliest images of iconic musicians such as Nas, Lauryn Hill and Maxwell. She then expanded into cinematography, shooting music videos for artists including TLC, Heavy D, D'Angelo and The Brand New Heavies. From there, Lisa went on to work with her mentor Stanley Kubrick on his last film Eyes Wide Shut. When Kubrick passed, she dived into a deeper study between the relationship of cinema and imagery, and continued her cinematographic work on independent films and shows for directors: Nancy Savoca’s "Dirt", for Showtime and “Union Square”, theatrical released, Michael Kang’s "The Motel"; Sundance and “Citizen Reno” for Bravo.
Lisa’s debut film as a writer, director, and cinematographer, “Exactly”, starring Rosie Perez and Sarita Choudhury, premiered at Tribeca, London and Sundance Film Festivals. She has since directed episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” as well as multiples of both “Step Up: Highwater “and “Greenleaf”. In 2020, she directed an episode of the show, “Power III: Raising Kanan” and was invited back to shoot an additional episode in 2021. More recently, Lisa was in Albuquerque to direct two episodes of “Big Sky” for ABC.
In the fall of 2019 Lisa won a Suncoast Regional Emmy for the documentary, “Remembering Surrounded Islands”, commissioned by the Pérez Art Museum. Her legendary work documenting hip hop and the moments in between that have shaped the culture as we understand it today have been published in Here I Am — Photographs by Lisa Leone and Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop.