“It started with what everybody today calls selfies,”
Chi Modu
, a famed photographer who has lensed greats like Tupac and Nas, tells me on the other end of the line. “I call them self-portraits, but they were done on a timer,” he continues. “My first work was putting a camera on a tripod and taking pictures of myself, trying to learn what a camera is, you know? I played around a bit in high school, but it was in college where I really started to take it seriously. It was always very natural to me.” Modu’s calling all the way from Finland, where he’s busy running his photography show, Uncategorized (on until September 1st), and is recounting the story of how he first got into photography. Even if his name doesn’t ring a bell, you’ve definitely seen his work. You know that photo of Biggie in front of the Twin Towers? Or the one of a young, shirtless Tupac tugging at his bandana? How about the photo of
Nas
posted up on his bed in Queens? All of them are Modu’s works. Those and hundreds of other iconic shots.
Modu has an air about him that’s hard to pinpoint. He’s over six feet, but it was his affirmative handshake and captivating demeanor that made me pay a little bit closer attention. It wasn’t until after our exchange that I truly realized the magnitude of Modu’s work. Self-taught in his craft, he always knew that he wanted to work in photography and that he was good at it. Really good. One gig at
Amsterdam News
led to another at
The Source
in 1990. He quickly became hip-hop’s go-to photographer, capturing culturally significant moments and casual hangs with the likes of Biggie, Tupac, Diddy,
Mary J. Blige
, Nas—we could go on for days. “I was in the middle of the movement,” Modu tells me. “Not just the middle of it, I was one of the catalysts. To be able to be there at that stage [of
The Source
]—it defined my career.” He continues, telling us about his relationship with these artists, how he became so close to them, and the story behind a few of his favorite photos. Keep scrolling to read it all.
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I feel like that’s exactly what made you able to capture such intimate moments with these artists. You’re really one of the only ones to have such iconic photos of both Biggie and Tupac. Were you friends with both of them?
“Biggie and I were pretty close because he’s from Brooklyn and I’m a New Yorker, so we had a natural connection. I mean, I could call Big on his cell phone, you know what I mean? While Tupac and I were down with each other, I wasn’t around Tupac all the time. Since we were both professional, he knew that whatever he gave me was going to go to the world, and we protected it. He saw the future. I can’t say he knew he was going to live a short life, but the way he moved, he knew that he had to focus to get it all in, and that’s why our photo sessions were so extensive. My pictures kind of keep him here, even though it’s been 23 years since he’s been gone. There are simple pictures; him with no shirt on, a white singlet on—it almost feels like he’s still here today. Even though some of [my photographs] are 25 years old, I use them in a modern way.”
You’re helping to tell a story that will live on forever:
“Exactly, and I feel a certain amount of responsibility. Sometimes people come on my page, these smart-asses, asking, ‘What are you doing next?’ and it makes me laugh in a way because no one says that to Picasso [
laughs
]. But that’s sort of the disposable generation that we live in. I ignore that because this iconic stuff will be here. I don’t have to take another photograph again, and I’m still solidly in the history of the generation’s iconic work.”
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Tell me a little bit about what else you want to get up to in 2019, what can we expect from you?
“I’m looking at London and I’m looking at Amsterdam, those are two things. I will also touch Finland again, and tell the folks in Toronto I’ll come there! Canada is my number four market in the world; it goes U.S., Brazil, UK, Canada, Germany. So Canada’s there—we’ll figure out something cool for the people.”
I have one more question for you, Chi. I feel like so much of your story has been sharing other people’s, but for yourself specifically, what do you want to be remembered by?
“I want to be known as someone that can look at something and bring the truth out without injecting their point of view into it. For me, that’s very important. As long as I do that and I do my job well, then people remember me. It only works in that order, you know?”
Shot on location at The Crown at 50 Bowery.
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