Today we’d like to introduce you to Nassir Ward.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born and raised in Oakland, CA in 1999. I grew up participating in almost every single extracurricular activity my mom could find to help me find my passion. Whether it was sports, summer programs like Alvin Ailey American dance, joining my school orchestra class as a violinist and bassist, graphic design and finally photography class. Some of those activities I was very good at and some of them I was not good at all, but it was good to have those experiences. Since I was participating in all of these activities and events, photos were always being taken. With me being the eldest of four children at home, it was and still is important to my mom to capture moments. Once I got into high school, I began to attend Bishop O’Dowd High School but had not yet found the passion I have today. Even though I had not realized photography was my passion, I oddly enough loved being in front of the camera and taking pictures with my friends. From freshman to sophomore year, my only focus was continuing to balance running for Bishop O’Dowd’s track and field team, while attempting to manage my grades as a student with learning disabilities.
Once I got to my junior year, everything changed. Going into the fall semester of my junior year, I wanted to do something productive while I was not in track season, so I picked up the family camera in my house and started going out with my friends to take pictures around our neighborhoods. Prior to picking up that family camera, I had taken one summer photography class when I was going into the 8th grade and only had two friends that did photography already. Since I did not know anything about photography, I went out almost anytime I could to take photos of friends all over the Bay Area. By my senior year, I decided to drop running track and field and football for O’Dowd to solely focus on photography. I was finally able to take a photography class, so I could learn all of the technical information and get familiar with all of the editing software. My friend Andre was in the class as well and it gave him and I the excuse to go out to take photos whenever. Half of the time, we did not come to class with the assignments we were supposed to do because we were shooting what we wanted to shoot. I was also able to become a student at a TV broadcasting station called KDOL TV. As my senior year was ending, I had my eyes set on attending Morehouse College, but after talks with my parents, we decided it was not the right choice for me.
That summer, I focused on branding my business I would end up calling, Photos by Nas. Instead of starting community college that following August, I decided to take a gap year. I spent two and a half weeks in Harlem, New York with my friend as he was getting settled into his new school he got a full scholarship at. Staying in Harlem, New York inspired me because of the hustle mentality I witnessed New Yorkers had. What I witnessed from New Yorkers was that no matter how good they are doing, they will continue to work/hustle like they could lose it all the next day. When coming back, his dad and I drove all the way from New York back to Oakland, and it gave me fresh inspiration to continue with photography. Once I came back to Oakland, I started expanding my network by reaching out to people through social media to work and continued at KDOL TV as an intern. . While all of my friends were in school, I used my gap year to work with my friend’s clothing brands, aspiring models, and connecting with friends of friends from their colleges, like Cal Berkeley and UCLA.
From those connections, I was able to get my name buzzing all around the Bay Area and LA. Fall of 2018, I went back to school and began working my first retail job, which was hard to juggle with my photography going on. When I came into 2019, I said to myself that I wanted people to take me seriously, so I started reaching out to modeling agencies (Bay Area/LA) and wardrobe stylists to get better. I was and still am sending out 5-10 emails every other week to work with people to put myself out there because I believe in my work and growth. Since the end of 2019, I have been back and forth between Oakland and LA. Right now, I am taking on filmmaking and pursuing being a film director.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For me, it definitely has not been a smooth road. I went from a two-parent household to a one-parent household at a young age and we had lost it all just like that. We became poor and we were even homeless twice, but my mom tried her best in enrolling me into programs to keep me busy and away from the streets. Even though I was poor, I got the chance to attend the most prestigious high school in Oakland on an academic scholarship. My peer group in high school was so sports-oriented, it was a huge transition for me to step out of that space I was used to. I was stepping into a different space and with being from Oakland, it was not normal for black kids being interested in photography. Being a young black man from Oakland, there was no expectation of a black kid starting his own photography business. The only options we were given were sports and making music to make it out, so I’ve had to work twice as hard toward my dreams.
Being from a city where kids starting at the age of 16 were passing away pushed me to work harder as well. To me, it’s an absolute blessing to make it to 21 years old and one of my next goals is to make it past 25 years old. During my gap year, I was growing my business and interning at KDOL TV, but I was also taking care of my family. My youngest siblings were one and three years old at the time and my mom was physically and intellectually unable to take care of them. My mom has had chronic back pain my whole life and she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative brain disease in 2017, so I became their main caretaker. My youngest brother was diagnosed with autism in 2019 as he just turned three years old. Ever since then, we have been catching him up because for those first three years, he was nonverbal and we were not able to communicate with him. It has been a tough journey, but I’ve keeping my head up and pushing through.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a photographer and I specialize in portrait photography. My work mainly ranges from lifestyle, fashion, beauty, and brands. I am mostly known for photographing black people, specifically black women. When stepping into photography, I already knew that majority of the modeling industry was white. With noticing that, I wanted to focus on black people and show people of my skin color, it is possible to be in magazines like Vogue, Paper, and Essence. I am also pursuing filmmaking to become a film director. The thing I am most proud of is that I took a bet on myself at the age of 16 and stuck with photography even when I did not know where this path would take me.
When I started photography, I had the mission to show my peers that we could do anything to be successful and we did not have to limit ourselves to what society expects us to be. I wanted to use my photography to share my perspective of the world and build everlasting connections. I believe what sets me apart from others is my drive. I truly know what it means to lose it all at a young age and grow up faster mentally than a kid should. That has pushed me to work as hard as I do and ever since then, I have been trying to rebuild through my craft. Another thing that sets me apart from others is that I try to capture the essence of each person I am working with by photographing them in their own way. When you work with me, I want you to be satisfied throughout the whole process, whether it’s prepping for the photoshoot, during the photoshoot, and when you receive the final images.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.photosbynas.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naswmeetsworld/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_YoungNas
Image Credits
My personal photo was taken by Andre Lusan
