Portfolio Review: Loni Schick's Hip-Hop Portraits

Loni Schick is a photographer based in Toronto, Canada. She is passionate about hip hop, sneakers, BMX, culture, music, travel and fell in love with photography over 13 years ago. Loni has traveled to 21 countries, lived on three continents and shoots wherever she goes.

Loni's work has been featured on websites and in print publications such as ION Magazine, Denmark's DubCNN Magazine, Sneakhype, Sneaker Freaker and Female Sneaker Fiend. She was a contributing photographer for Lori Lobenstine's book entitled Girls Got Kicks, the world's first book about female sneaker collectors. She is Subeditor and a significant contributor to the world's best female street culture publication, C.O.P. Magazine and has recently joined RESPECT. Mag as an online photo contributor.

Reaching internationally, Loni's work was recently shown as part of an all-female art exhibit at Strychnin Gallery in Berlin, Germany, along with charity art pieces by Kat Von D and Katy Perry.

Website: www.lonischick.com
Tumblr: http://lonischick.tumblr.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Elle_Aye

Check out the best of Loni Schick's hip-hop portraits in our portfolio review.

I love BMX. My friend was competing in the New Jersey BMX Am Jam 2.0 this past summer so naturally, I shot from start to finish.

YDB, who also goes by “Boy Jones”, is the first-born son of Ol’ Dirty Bastard. I had been in Brooklyn all afternoon shooting a mixtape cover for ODB’s nephew who had plans to meet up with YDB fresh off a flight from Atlanta to perform on the 36 Chambers stage at Rock the Bells the next day. He really does look a lot like his father.

This is a throwback, from 2009. My boy D.O. and I had nothing better to do in Regina, so we picked out a dozen pairs from his 100+ collection of kicks and hit the streets to showcase them.

While Black Thought was on stage in Toronto’s Dundas Square, Eternia and I were posted up in a nearby back alley in shoot mode, while she was still buzzing from just having given an incredible performance. It was my second time photographing Eternia, this time was for a Danish magazine. I can’t say enough goodness about her. She can slaughter dudes in cyphers yet she’s one of the sweetest, most genuine people I’ve ever met.

If Vashtie is “Downtown’s Sweetheart”, then Gypsi is “South Bronx’s Sweetheart”. We were close to a wrap so I asked if she’d mind putting on my vintage Melville Winter Games crewneck as a shout-out to my hometown in Saskatchewan. If you would’ve told me in 1990 that someday I’d be photographing emcees in NYC, I’d would’ve called you trippin’.

This is an outtake from the Girls Got Kicks book. The Toronto skyline served as a perfect background for the young and famous graphic designer. She reps her city, and her generation well.

Minutes after meeting Joe Budden, I found myself asking him to sit on the filthy dressing room floor so I could stand on the couch behind him to get this shot for the RESPECT. Mag site. He replied, “that’s asking a lot. Well, let’s see how it looks.”

An outtake from a shoot for a C.O.P. Magazine blog post: Lindsey’s legs and beautiful tattoos, a swimming pool and the CN Tower

I met and interviewed Martha back in May 2010, which was a surreal experience for me. I own all of her books and well, she’s basically my idol. I even lugged my oversize 25th anniversary edition of Subway Art from Toronto to have her sign it for me. She’s such a chill and interesting lady, I was so hyped to meet with her again. This photo can be found in the Girls Got Kicks book.

How fitting for Nova to be smoking and playing in the sprinklers of a LES park, amongst a bunch of children.

Peter was free-styling during our entire shoot, in a back alley just off of Hollywood Boulevard. Not including my archived film and travel images, this is probably my favorite photo I’ve ever taken.

The handsome, heavily-tattooed, weed-smoking, rapping son of Tommy Hilfiger is one of my favorite artists I’ve had the pleasure of photographing. I wanted to capture his “Limo Life” knuckle tattoos, but I didn’t want the typical fist-to-lens shot for the RESPECT. Mag site. He also has “The Wind Cries Mary” tattooed across his chest. Any Jimi Hendrix fan is automatically rad in my books.

Roy Ayers is a G. As he made his way from the hall to the stairs, to take the stage at Mod Club in Toronto, he leaned towards me and stuck his tongue out at my lens and giggled. I was shooting the concert to accompany an interview for the RESPECT. Mag site. Five minutes into his show, my face ached from laughing and smiling at Roy’s antics.

I interviewed Sibley over margaritas at Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. Don’t judge - I never mix booze and work but it was simply a case of “I’ll have what she’s having”. The waiter misheard me when I said I didn’t need another drink and he brought another. I was pretty buzzed when I shot this photo, which appeared as a 2-page spread for C.O.P. Magazine in early 2010. If you’re familiar with C.O.P. Mag, you understand how fitting that is.

In August, I was invited to take part in an all-female art exhibition at Strychnin Gallery in Berlin, Germany. Each participating artist was instructed to select a quote from a list of excerpts taken from 1800’s etiquette guides for young ladies. My quote was “As women take as long to settle their fancies in edibles as in love-matters, you had better at once get her something substantial, chicken, pâté de foie gras, mayonnaise, or what you will. Afterwards come jelly and trifle in due course.” (The Habits of good society: a handbook for ladies and gentlemen, 1866). This is what I came up with.