Tupac, Smile, Harlem, NY, 1994

The Back Story
"I received a call from Tupac's publicist (Interscope Records), asking if I wanted to photograph Tupac in Harlem. He was having a press day and was being filmed for the music video channel, The Box. The format of the segment, Box Talk, was that camera crews would follow the artist around their childhood neighborhood. They would then shoot a particular segment in front of a location meaningful to the artist.

For Tupac, it was to be his elementary school in Harlem." - T. Eric Monroe

The Photographed Moment
"When I arrived at the location (155th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue), not far from Yankee Stadium, it was chaotic. Magazine and newspaper photographers, The Box camera crew, and local news teams swarmed, yelling at Tupac to look at their cameras.

I watched it for a while, then slowly got out my camera and edged toward the action. Standing relatively close to Tupac, I noticed that, at certain angles, I could be near but not be in ‘Pac’s space. I didn’t want to badger him. Through eye contact, the connection became more endearing. At times, we looked at each other and quietly laughed at the media circus around us.." - T. Eric Monroe