Portfolio Review: Hip-Hop Portraits By Amanda Lopez

Amanda Lopez was born in Sacramento, CA and moved to SF to go to college. She started shooting photos at hip-hop shows, quickly realizing her interest lay in the portraits rather than documentary performance of shots. Her career began in earnest with work for Vapors magazine, where Lopez shoot a lot of indie bands, which led to an assistantship with the legendary Estevan Oriol.

Lopez's work has been published pages of XXL, Vibe, XLR8R, Rolling Stone, Latina, Hamburger Eyes, Hell Yeah, Sneaker Freaker, The Source, Vapors and more recently in The Reed Pages and Essence Magazine. Her photos have also appeared in “Street World," by Roger Gastman and Upper Playground's "Backyard Shake Down." In 2010, Lopez teamed with Lori Lobenstine to release the first ever photo documentary book on women and sneaker culture called Girls Got Kicks.

As a fine artist, Lopez has been shown at a number of gallery shows through out the country and abroad. In May, her caliLove Dia de Los Muertos series will be featured in Madrid at Photo Espana, International Photography and Visual Arts Festival.

She is currently working on a new tin type portrait project, which is one of the first photo techniques invented in the mid 1800’s. As she says, "I am taking it back, way back."

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COMPLEX linked with Lopez to get the stories behind her favorite photographs.

My homie Theek is someone that I photograph a lot. He’s dad is a photographer so he is use to being in front of the camera. He is a Cadillac man so on this particular day we took the car out for a cruise.

I shot these portraits of Nipsey Hussel for XXL magazine right before he made the freshmen cover so there was a lot of buzz and excite around him the day of the shoot. We shot in his neighborhood so people kept coming by to congratulate him on his success and say hello. I spent a lot of time following him around grabbing shots whenever I could. These were taken during a brief moment of calmness.

B-Fly is the Game’s younger sister. This shot was taken in front of her home in Compton with her dog, Sassy for an issue of XXL. She was a doll to work with. Her dog on the other hand was a little intimidating.

This photo was part of a fashion story I shot of XLR8R magazine. We shot this in my favorite neighborhood in San Francisco, the Mission. My homeboy came by with his 64’ Impala and the girls jumped right in. I only snapped off a few shots and this one was the winner.

My friend Tyler was going to get a tattoo in honor of his daughter and I asked if I could tag along. Before we went in, we stopped in front of the shop and I shot this portrait.

Deluv is a musician from San Francisco. I met his through a mutual friend and immediately knew I wanted to photograph him. He has a great energy. This image was shot on the fire escape of his Haight Street apartment.

C Plus is an MC from Sacramento who is making waves in the music industry. He is really great to work with because he’s confident and knows what works for him in front of the camera. This image is from a press shoot we did together.

Nosa is my muse. I’ve been photographing him for years. When I first meet him he was growing out his locks. Right before he moved across the country, he cut his hair. This is his before and after shot.

Mara is a singer from Oakland. She has this great throw back feel to her look and voice. I wanted the portrait to have a similar feel so I shot her in a diner in SF. She was wearing this amazing show stopping vintage dress that had passerbys in awe.

I shot this photo of Pac Div early on in their career. I like this shot because they each have different facial expressions yet they all exude this level of confidence and determination.

Bambu was one of the first people I met when I moved to LA. I became fast friend with his wifey Rocky Rivera and soon became friends with Bam as well. I am a fan of his music and was inspired to photograph him after listen to his album Paper Cuts. When I moved back to SF and he was in town on tour, we set the shoot up. A friend came by with his lowrider and the rest is history.

Dun is one half of the Panamanian Rap Duo Los Rakas. Friends of mine had been telling me to check them out and when I finally did, I knew I wanted to get them in front of my lens. This shot was taken in the yard of his home in Oakland. I love the vintage feel of this portrait.

I love shooting right before the sun sets. The quality of light can’t be beat. The light was just right and Leah was dressed to impress.

Mikey is a Sacramento legend. He is a prolific tattoo artist and is also into bikes. Mikey agreed to let me take his portrait and he brought along this great motorized bike he built. We shot this on a summer day in front of his garage.

When I am not shooting editorially I am working on my own personal work. This shot is from my Dia de los Muertos series, caliLOVE. I shot this portrait of the multi talented Lady Tragik right before she moved to L.A.