snapped: Invasion of the Pines. July 4th, 2023
Mel D. Cole to photography Black Premier League Fans in America for Premier League.
𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭: I'm trilled to announce that along side with my agency Charcoal Pitch FC I will be working with Premier League / @plinusa with #PLFansOfAmerica!
"I want to highlight specifically Black American fans that don’t always get a lot of the shine in coverage. I’m excited to now be working with the Premier League on #PLFansOfAmerica to identify the most amazing soccer fans we have in the country, photograph them, and let them tell their story.“
The first story I got to tell is my own and my love for @arsenal . Head over to @plinusa check it out and use the hashtag #PLFansOfAmerica to read previous fans stories and to keep up with future fans that I will document!
#soccer #football #premierleague #arsenal #futbol #charcoalpitchfc @ Charcoal Pitch FC
Black National Convention Artist Profile: Mel D Cole. Watch the BNC August 28th at 7pm!
Acclaimed photographer Mel D.Cole has dedicated his life to supporting and documenting the Black Lives Matter movement. Ahead of the Black National Convention on August 28, 1xRun is partnering with Cole to publish the most powerful images from the movement as seen by him. "Here are few images that I picked out that I have captured over the last few months that I think will be a great reminder of what's going on, what has happened and what's to come." -Mel D. Cole
Buy the prints here: https://www.1xrun.com/collections/movement-in-process/ Watch the BNC on Aug, 28th at 7pm here: https://m4bl.org/events/the-black-national-convention/
I photograph New York City from the car during quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic . #FROMTHECAR
With all of my gigs all but canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, I like many others had to find ways to continue to be creative. I wanted to go shoot NYC but not walk around, so I photographed from my drivers seat. I went out to Brooklyn to document the Hasidic Jewish community. I went to Harlem, Times Square and more.
This is an ongoing project.
snapped: Gza at the Blue Note. NYC. 3.1.20
Photos by @meldcole.
Griselda: Benny The Butcher, Conway The Machine & Westside Gunn Backstage at The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. 2.23.20
snapped. Bad Boys For Life: Martin Lawrence & Will Smith CRWN Interview with Elliott Wilson. Apollo Theater. NYC 1.9.20
Photos by Mel D. Cole
snapped: Maurice "Mobetta" Brown Birthday Vibes Session With: Anderson .Paak, D Smoke and more at Blue Note. NYC. 1.6.20
All photos by Mel D. Cole
snapped: Danny Brown, Ashnikko & Zeelooperz. Warsaw. Brooklyn. 11.18.19
snapped: Freddie Gibbs & Madlib. Melkweg. Amsterdam, Netherlands. 10.30.19
snapped: The Roots | AMC PRESENTS “HIP HOP: THE SONGS THAT SHOOK AMERICA" Premiere | Apollo Theater | HARLEM
snapped: Benny The Butcher with special guest: Black Thought, Jadakiss, Conway The Machine & Westside Gunn | Sony Hall 9.16.19
snapped: Hot 97 Summer Jam 2019 in photos
Summer Jam 2019 photos by Mel D. Cole
snapped: The Roots Picnic 2019 photos
This years version took place in a real park with real grass!
A lot of great performances took place and I have the pics and a BTS video to prove it how amazing the picnic was and came to be!
Street Soccer | Football in Luanda, Angola. 2015
Shot on iPhone during my trip with Trey Songz and crew.
When we arrived they told me not to go out alone, but that never stopped me. I am not afraid of my own people and if something happens it just happens. You stay in, you never get to see what is meant to be seen. I walked around and boom! I saw these men playing the beautiful game amongst a background I have yet to see like this at that point.
I said my hellos, and I started shooting with my phone. Up until now I totally forgot about these images.
Photos: Nipsey Hussle Vigil at The Marathon Store. Los Angeles, California 4.4.19
The unfortunate death of Nipsey Hussle happened only a few days before I was to arrive in Los Angeles with my family for a good friend’s wedding. On my way to my hotel from LAX I decided to go to The Marathon Store to document one of hip hop’s greatest stories of all time.
The celebration of the life and tragic death of rapper/activist and hood hero Nipsey Hussle.
I will let the photos say the words that I can not:
Mel D. Cole Presents GREAT: Pictures of Hip Hop 2002-2019
BREAKING NEWS! NEW BOOK ALERT!
Mel D. Cole Presents GREAT: Photographs of Hip Hop 2002-2019
Starting in 2002 as just a fan with a disposable camera taking pictures of the artists that inspired him, Mel D. Cole has evolved into one of the most accomplished and celebrated music photographers around while documenting a critical moment in music when Hip Hop took over the world.
And now, after 17 years of pictures, we are releasing the first book of Mel's work. And it's GREAT!
Please follow the Kickstater link to pledge your support to my life’s work!
The Roots perform the last concert ever at New York's Highline Ballroom + The 10 year anniversary The Roots Jam sessions.
In the year 2009 somehow I worked my way into becoming The Roots house photographer and it all happened at the now closed Highline Ballroom!
I started photographing them years before 2009 but it was during the jam sessions ( that cost 10 dollars btw ) that I really got to know my brothers and my war with Questlove began!
I could have not have had a better ended to the venue where I honed my skills as a photographer. Looking back, I literally went from guy who takes pics to pro photog during this time in my career.
My favorite hip hop band closing out the iconic Highline Ballroom two nights ago on Monday February 4th, 2019 and they KILLED IT with classic material and amazing covers as only The Roots can do was a dream come true.
Here’s some of the images I captured on Monday:
But lets back up just a little…..10 years or so, back to the Jam sessions. Back to those legendary nights where week after week Questlove, Black Thought and Richard Nichols (RIP) and the rest of the show producers put together some of the eras top talent together that otherwise would not performed together.
To me one of the greatest things The Roots do is genre bending and binding. They can play anything and back in 09 they did this for weeks on end.
Every week I could count on seeing some of my friends. I knew I would see Ginny, Dan, Bill, and Tina. Every week I knew I would be in store for something amazing. Every week I know there would be a wide range of special guest in the house from Jimmy Fallon and Taraji P. Henson to Ron Jeremy and Dream Hampton.
I miss those days!
Here’s a list of some of the talent that I remember performing at those sessions:
Janelle Monae, Mos Def, Wale, Truck North, Porn, Jesse Boykins IIITanya Morgan, Nneka, Freeway, Joe Budden, Bilal, Sahr Ngaujah, Jay Electronica , Q Tip, MOP, Craig G, Talib Kweli, Styles P, Zoe Kravitz, Jean Grea, Members of In Living Color, Boots Riley, Sean P, Amanda Seals, Skillz and many many more.
Here’s some highlights in photos from that year of jam sessions
Highline Ballroom, you will be dearly missed!
Yams Day 2019 Photos by Mel D. Cole. Barclays Center.
Yams Day 2019 celebrated the life of ASAP Mob’s Yams!
This years performers included:
ASAP MOB
Lil Yachty
Joey Badass
Flatbush Zombies
Nav
skimasktheslumpgod
Meek Mil
Soulja Boy
Young MA
+ More
Doha, Qatar | Johannesburg, South Africa | Pilanesberg Safari
So, my super client; Afropunk hired me to go over to Johannesburg, South Africa to photograph the 2nd year of their festival there! I had a long ( 14 hour) layover in Doha, Qatar on my way over so I decided to get out of the airport and explore.
Doha you did not disappoint. Your people are warm, kind and of the great quality! I spent most of my time at Souq Waqif. The food was good and the people watching was even better. I could have used a drink but that’s ok, I was tired anyways.
Here’s a few pics from Souq Waqif
After hanging out in Qatar for about 14 hours, I made my way back to the airport for a 9 hour trip to my main destination: Johannesburg, South Africa. It was my first time there and guess what?! It rained every damn day that I was there. But, I did not let that stop me from having a great time. I meet some new homies while watching Arsenal get smashed by Liverpool. I worked two days of Afro Punk and I went on a safari Pilanesberg!
See my photos below!
-Mel D. Cole
Doha, Qatar
Afropunk Johannesburg 2018
Pilanesberg Game Reserve Safari
