Editor’s Note: This video is a segment from the CNN Style show.
CNN
—
Four-time Grammy-winning musician and actor Lenny Kravitz is no stranger to the spotlight.
But these days you are just as likely to find him behind the camera. His passion for photography has led to an exhibition at Art Basel and a collaboration with camera company Leica.
His most recent series, “Flash,” sees Kravitz turning his lens onto the fans and paparazzi who pursued him.
“It ended up being a really beautiful dance, and I started to see these people in a different way,” he said.
All the images are shot in black and white.
“I find that black and white is far more realistic,” he said. “I see better in black and white.”
Lenny Kravitz/TeNeues
Inspired by his life as a touring musician, Lenny Kravitz explored his passion for photography by turning the lens on the fans and paparazzi that followed him.
Lenny Kravitz/TeNeues
His book,
"Flash," documents this role reversal.
Lenny Kravitz/TeNeues
"There is one of a group of people in Cannes, on the street in front of a hotel, and they are all looking into the camera and it is so zany," explained Kravitz. "It looks like it was cast."
Lenny Kravitz/TeNeues
"Then there are quiet moments. There is a shot of a woman looking at me through people backstage at a show," Kravitz said.
Lenny Kravitz/TeNeues
All the images were taken with a Leica camera in black and white.
Lenny Kravitz/TeNeues
"I find that black and white is far more realistic," Kravitz said. "I see better in black and white."
Lenny Kravitz/TeNeues
It was his mother's black-and-white photo of Martin Luther King Jr. giving a speech in Washington that sparked the musician's love for photography.
Lenny Kravitz/TeNeues
In 2015, Kravitz's design company teamed up with Leica to design a limited edition version of the
Leica M-P camera.
Lenny Kravitz/TeNeues
The camera he made for the collaboration was artificially aged -- an homage to his father, who worked as a journalist in Vietnam during the war.
Lenny Kravitz/TeNeues
"(My father's) camera came back worn out, so you could see the brass and black paint," Kravitz said.
Lenny Kravitz/TeNeues
Kravitz is a four-time Grammy-winner. He plays five instruments and has acted in films.
Lenny Kravitz/TeNeues
He lives, writes and records on the Bahamanian island of Eleuthera.
Lenny Kravitz/TeNeues
"Flash" by Lenny Kravitz, published by teNeues, is out now.
In fact, it was his mother’s black-and-white image of Martin Luther King Jr. giving a speech in Washington that sparked the musician’s love of photography as a child.
“I recognized that it was a moment and that something important was going on. And that’s what I love about photography. I love that you are capturing this one tiny moment … and that moment doesn’t die. It continues to evolve, it continues to speak to people, and it is just magical.”