![jay-z reasonable doubt cover jay-z reasonable doubt cover](https://blackculturetv.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/cant-knock-the-hustle.jpg)
This was on a Thursday and the shoot was scheduled for Saturday. Jay approves of the creative…and I knew that was my one shot. I said I’m gonna do it for $300 less than your lowest bid. I was a 25 year-old-kid, never having done an album cover. I was so focused on getting the imagery and everything falls away.
![jay-z reasonable doubt cover jay-z reasonable doubt cover](http://assets.vogue.com/photos/589131c2736d5f2410e37027/16:9/pass/0-holding-reasonable-doubt.jpg)
Its taken me speaking to Biggs again to get some reflection on the session. If I shoot a shot of Jay Z super serious then laughing then posturing….all three of those photos are a true statement. Photographers have a responsibility to tell the truth. For the Reasonable Doubt shoot, I thought I’m gonna do whatever it takes and do it with integrity. A photographers dream is to get truly intimate access.
![jay-z reasonable doubt cover jay-z reasonable doubt cover](https://assets.capitalxtra.com/2013/27/jay-z-reasonable-doubt-debut-album-1373558901-view-2.jpg)
I mean people are rocking flattops now and medallions but people back then did it for different reasons.
![jay-z reasonable doubt cover jay-z reasonable doubt cover](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wHl43CnfcJI/hqdefault.jpg)
Something I love about photography is that you get to document something in real time that will never be the same again. What is your life like? How do I turn that to art? How do I interpret your everyday into art? I brought him references that were art books. I brought them a book called Evidence by Luc Sante which had all these black and white images of forensic evidence photographs taken by the NYPD between 19. It was a conceptual move because we used thorough references. That was the mentality I applied to the album. True bosses that move in silence, a sort of mafia vibe. At the time, stylistically guys were rocking Versace suits and linen, all the fly guys were rocking that. Jay really wanted the people to discover things for themselves. A short time after, Kasha Payne from Roc-a-Fella called me and she was like, “bring your ass down here, Jay’s doing an album and you should go for this.” I expected Jay to be a bit flashier but he was really on the humble. I remember Supernatural performed and I set up this whole photo studio in the back of the club. The first time I ever met Jay Z was in the back of this downtown club during an Eazy E tribute. Jonathan Mannion: I am so fortunate to have reshot his album cover for Reasonable Doubt. The resulting cover portrait for Reasonable Doubt shows a clean black and white image of the underworld gangster luminary who had nothing to prove. He wanted to scale down from the growing flossy flashy trend in hip hop at the time and instead wanted a real New York power moment-simple and determined. The singular album from Marcy House’s native son has not only stood the test of time, but also defined Hova’s legacy.Īs the release date of the album neared, Mannion set to work meticulously creating a set of visual references for the album but a couple days later Jay came to him with a different vision. Jay and his crew – Kareem “Biggs” Burke and Damon Dash and production team (DJ Clark Kent, DJ Premier, Ski) – created what would become his magnum opus, a debut considered by many hip-hop fans to be a lyrical force. As the first release on Roc-A-Fella Records, the LP represents what many believe is the crowning jewel of Jay’s contribution to hip hop, even 20 years later. Originally, the Reasonable Doubt album was to be called Heir to the Throne. A few years later, their artistic partnership for Reasonable Doubt would set the tone for what has become a decades long visual collaboration. It was at a downtown venue that he first snapped a photo of Jay Z. Mannion would set out at night to the clubs of hip hop’s golden era to take photos and vibe out. The days were long and putting in work as an assistant was grueling. With a camera in hand and a serious love of hip hop in his heart, Mannion moved from Cleveland to New York in 1993 to work with the legendary Richard Avedeon.
JAY Z REASONABLE DOUBT COVER ARCHIVE
The magnitude, not to mention organization, of Mannion’s photography archive is intense. Not unlike the artists he photographs, Mannion has a swaggering bravado, a trait that comes from an earned confidence after many years photographing just about every important hip hop artist in the game.