OZIER MUHAMMAD, HARLEM
“I’ve lived in Harlem since 1990, and have been photographing life in Harlem ever since moving to New York in 1980.” - Ozier Muhammad
“Chicago-born, Muhammad is the grandson of Nation of Islam Founder Elijah Muhammad. Coming of age in that famous family of Black Muslim leaders — itself spotlighted in an array of news, commentary and pictures — he picked up jazz and a Yashica film camera around the same time.
He’s covered the Civil Rights Movement, the South’s fits-and-starts fight to desegregate, homecoming queens at historically black colleges and universities, celebrities of entertainment and sports. “Being a photojournalist is like being a kind of cultural anthropologist,” he said. “You get a chance to try to pull back the layers of people’s lives and interpret what you discover.” - Pulitzer