Lenny Kravitz displays talent as photographer at Art Basel

Musician Lenny Kravitz revealed the photographer in him with an exhibition titled Flash, showcasing 52 snapshots taken by him, at the Art Basel fair in Miami Sunday.

Leica Gallery is hosting the black and white collection of photos taken by the musician at different concerts, reflecting a life surrounded by flashes and prying eyes, fans and “paparazzi”, but with the roles reversed.

The fourtime Grammy Awards winner explained the camera initially was “for pure entertainment” and that it “seemed interesting how people react”, but it was not until he showed his work to his friend and French fashion photographer JeanBaptiste Mondino that he decided to display his work to the public.

Mondino said he was attracted by the “composition of the images and the original concept” and encouraged Kravitz to organize an exhibition.

One of his most striking works is the photograph of a fan, who on realizing she was going to be photographed, abandoned her camera and smiled directly at Kravitz.

“We were leaving the concert, and she was shooting, and I dropped my camera and I looked at her and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a cute girl.’ And then she kind of dropped her camera and looked at me and smiled,” said Kravitz.

Flash has already been exhibited in Los Angeles, Berlin and Vienna, and the benefits from the sales with prices ranging from $1,800 to $4,000 will go to charity, Kravitz had announced.