Photographer Jamel Shabazz was first drawn to the camera by a desire to preserve memory. In this latest book, Prospect Park: Photographs of a Brooklyn Oasis, 1980 to 2025 , the artist celebrates the park's vibrant African American community, showcasing the beauty of the central Brooklyn oasis and the individuals who animate it.

Shabazz, known for his iconic street photography of the city’s Black community, said his drive to document began in junior high, nurtured by a father who was a photographer and never let him be without a lens or inspiration.

While many of his peers turned to graffiti during the 1970s, Shabazz felt drawn to something deeper, something more profound, he said, a calling to preserve the world unfolding around him.

“When I picked up the camera, it became natu

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