Nigil Crawford of Brooklyn (Bedford-Stuyvesant) on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We recently had the chance to connect with Nigil Crawford and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nigil, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: Who are you learning from right now?
I believe I’m learning to currently live and be present in the moment. I realize I am always working on “what’s next” instead of appreciating what I have already done and put together,.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Nigil Crawford and I am an editorial and commercial photographer whose work lives at the intersection of art, identity, and resistance. I recently just curated my first solo photography exhibit, Negro Making Change at Lips Cafe in Flatbush, NK.

This exhibition is both a visual reckoning and a love letter. It is about the everyday radical act of being Black and seen in joy, in pain, in softness, in pride. The title itself is layered: a nod to resistance, to transformation, and to the legacy of Black people constantly creating value, even when the world tries to devalue us.

Growing up, I remember watching the news with my parents every single day. Every ten minutes, it felt like there was another Black face in a mugshot. That imagery stuck with me. It made me hate how we were always shown in a negative light. We were only ever a problem to be solved, never a story worth telling. Photography became my way to rewrite the image and give us back our faces.

In Negro Making Change, I strived to build a new visual language, one where his subjects are fully themselves, unfiltered and unafraid. The work is cinematic, intimate, and layered with intention. The camera doesn’t just capture a look; it captures lineage. It listens. It remembers.

This collection is a testimony. It honors the lives, voices, and visions of those who’ve come before and those who are still becoming. Negro Making Change is not just about representation. It’s about restoration. It’s about reclaiming power over how we are seen and remembered. This is not just art. This is resistance in real time.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
It was during the pandemic, (May 29, 2020 to be exact.) The world was inside and we were watching George Floyd lose his life on national television. I had just moved back to Atlanta temporarily and there was a protest being organized down in Centennial Olympic Park. I also had just been laid off from my job, so I had nothing to do. I decided to take my camera and go document this “peaceful” protest.

It started off very mellow, and I was able to meet and greet a lot of community that, also like myself, was enraged at what was currently happening. As we marched through downtown, the tension between protesters and police was at an all time high. Someone threw a rock at a police car, shattering the window. All hell broke lose and the police began tear gassing protesters and innocent bystanders. Throughout the chaos, I was pushed on the ground, kicked, and my camera suffered significant damage.

There is a photo I captured this day that summed up what my purpose was. There was a helicopter hovering directly over the Georgia State Capitol building. A young man was also standing on a high-rise platform with his hands up. As I looked up from the ground, I realized in that moment what the reality was we were living in. It reminded me I have the power to tell not only my story, but OUR story. The camera became my tool of resistance, and I’m grateful to invite others into my world with it.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I’d tell my younger self that it’s okay to express yourself something like this

“Don’t be afraid to tap into your emotions. You were taught as a young man to suppress what you feel. You’d hear words like ‘man up’ ‘quit crying’ or ‘thug it out.’ Your emotions are going to help you tap into your inner creativity. Once you learn to control them, you’ll be unstoppable. And you don’t have to always be a doctor or a lawyer. You can make it being a photographer, director, producer, writer, or graphic designer. The sky is the limit for you. Whatever you choose to do, just put that work in! And it’s going to be well over 10,000 hours.”

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
The public version of me is real, but it’s only a chapter, not the whole book.

The curated posts, polished exhibitions, artist talks, and all of the shoutouts are authentic pieces of my experience. However, I choose what parts of myself to share. That version is real.

The real me also includes what lives off-camera. The messy, vulnerable, uncertain, private joy, the sacred grief. These are parts that people don’t see. The daily doses of doubt I feel is a part of the process. It just doesn’t get talked about enough.

Just because the public doesn’t witness every corner of your journey doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. We all wear masks, some to protect ourselves, others to survive, and some to perform. That doesn’t make us fake. It makes us human.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What will you regret not doing? 
I think I will regret not doing a lot of things. I have a lot of time left on earth.

-Skydiving
-Opening my own photo studio
-Launching my creative agency
-Releasing my first photo book
-Getting my pilots license
-Getting my Masters Degree
-Driving a F1 car
-Directing my first feature film
-Make my first million dollars
-Getting married and starting a family
-Shooting a cover for a major magazine
-Shooting one of my favorite artists on tour

These are just a few things off the top of my head, but I know I will check off most of these in my lifetime.

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