About Us
Donjai Gilmore (pronounced don-jay) (b. Joseph Gilmore New York, NY, 1986) has been photographing since International Center of Photography at The Point CDC was conceived in 1997. This community based program spawn out of the South Bronx opened doors for him to being featured on PBS City Arts at the age of 11 and enabled him to photograph for and work personally with Ford Fashion Week, Wild Life Conservation Society,The Source Magazine, BET, VH1's Black Ink Crew/Unfaithful Season 2 Al Sharpton's National Action Network, NYPL Anti-Prom, CHASE, Shari Bryant, National Association of Negro Business & Professional Women Club and Marcus Garvey Park Alliance INC ,The LOX- Juices For Life, Dave East, Sean Diddy Combs, Nipsey Hussle, Jim Jones, DMX, SHYNE, Swizz Beatz, Victoria Gotti, Fred The Godson, Harlem Fashion Week, Revolt TV, Environmental Justice Alliance, Harlem Shake, The Ones, JD SPORTS, Alex Todd’s Saucey Extracts, Roc Nation, HOT97, Universal Music Group, Teaneck High School, Freemasonry Boyer Lodge #1, Covenant House, Association of Neighborhood & HousingDevelopment, product shots for 7 time NBA ALL STAR Hall of Fame Tracey Mcgrady and the list goes on all within 20 years. His knowledge of Cinematography and keen sense of fashion has reputably guided his Hip-Hop music videos to Complex, Worldstarhiphop.com, Missinfo.com and REVOLT TV as well as serving as Johnny Nunez assistant. His work has also been featured in a handful of galleries , publications and he continues to travel the world by way of the camera.
History
All of this has been aligned since his days as a student but his true honor lies in recently pioneering a photo program in Red Hook, Brooklyn giving teenagers the same opportunity granted to him in the early 2000’s but on a digital platform. They learn the ascetics of what makes a good photo, therapeutic ways of expressing themselves through photography, how to transfer the artistic skills to generate capital while being granted their own galleries and intern opportunities along the way. He works closely under The Point and Jimmy Moffat’s Red Hook Labs educational wing to make these things happen! Before landing in Brooklyn he tested the waters with community programing working with Office of Congress: Jose E' Serrano, Bereau Betak, The Laundromat Project, Rocking the Boat, Leak & Watts, Friends of (Rikers) Islands Academy, Dare2DreamBX and Directions For Our Youth, and recently served as a juror for 2018-2021 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
As much of his success is owed to being young and ahead of the learning curve, He credits himself as a living testimony of how programing in urban communities can work in a full 360-degree circle all within 20 years. From being a student to freelancer to teacher and now employer for emerging artist, he continues to build a progressive portfolio candidly documenting lifestyle; and producing images conveying Hip-Hop as a tool for social change.