Jonene Lee

I began taking photos when I was about 13. I’d carry my camera with me everywhere and I didn’t know it then, but I was falling in love with photojournalism. My foundation as an artist began in the hip hop culture as a dancer. I was part of an all women’s dance company, Montazh, which is now known as The Ladies of Hip Hop. The dance and DJ scene went hand in hand so because I always had my camera, I started shooting a lot of Philly DJs like DJ Aktive, DJ Excel and DJ Bee. It wasn’t for money. I’d call them and say “Hey, do you want to walk around the city and shoot?”. I honed a lot of my skills during this period that I would use later in my photography career. 

One day as DJ Excel and I were shooting he said “You should take a photo of all the Philly DJs like Art Kane did of the Jazz musicians and Gordan Parks did of the MCs”. So in 2008 I founded and produced what would be known as 2008 Philly DJ Day. With Mayor Nutter (also a former DJ) and about 350 DJs we made Philly history with an iconic panoramic photo of every Philly DJ. My photo career took off after that shooting for acts like Nas, The Roots and Jazzy Jeff. My creative talents even expanded into product and lifestyle photography, covering New York Fashion Week, landing a licensing deal with Urban Outfitters and placement for the set design on ABC's hit crime drama, Castle. 

But I don’t think that was the life for me. Helping a community is where I want to be which is why I opened this gallery.