Nehemiah Brent is quite the talented image-maker with a creative perspective. You don’t believe me? Well, his portfolio speaks for itself. Coming from Liberia, Brent moved to Lynn when he was around six months old and has attended schools such as Lincoln Thompson, Pickering, and Lynn English throughout the years. Now, Brent is located in New York City and is making big moves with his camera in hand and visions in mind. With his compelling imagery, Brent has landed himself in some pretty notable projects with Netflix, Spotify, Billboard, Champs Sports, Flanelle Magazine, Kazarj Magazine, CRUSH Fanzine, and Selin Magazine, to name a few. Not only that, Brent also is a teacher assistant for the International Center of Photography, assisting students with camera operation, lighting techniques, and learning how to use editing software.
Finding his lens
Before capturing eye-popping imagery, Brent had other plans in terms of his career’s direction. Originally, Brent attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst to study computer science. That didn’t end up sticking, as he was on an exploratory track and switched majors to electrical engineering.
While studying electrical engineering, Brent felt drained and tired, and did not want to continue on with the subject much longer. From there, Brent switched majors again during the end of his sophomore year, going into the start of his junior year studying kinesiology. He turned to a hobby, in the meantime, to balance out his school life. As he loved styling, Brent wanted to turn fashion into his hobby, but realized there wasn’t much of a fashion scene out in western Massachusetts.
Brent also had an inclination for photography. At first, it started out with Brent taking photos of his friends to help improve his craft and as a way to connect with more people on campus. Another approach Brent took was going to concerts and taking photos of the musicians to get in, since they needed pictures of themselves. What started out as a hobby landed him his first job on campus, live-event photographer, with help from a friend. He also worked on campus as an organizational resource specialist. While his hobby was now making him money, Brent remained focused on kinesiology, as his whole goal was to do physical therapy.
Along the way, Brent was invited to New York a couple of times by his friend to help find inspiration, and he also found himself visiting on the weekends to see his cousin.
“I would come and just take walks and I felt mad at peace in New York,” Brent said. “The more and more I came here, I was connecting with artists and making new friends.”
By the end of his undergraduate studies, Brent’s photography skills had improved, but on the other end of the spectrum, he felt burnt out when it came to his degree. With the surge of inspiration he garnered, the improvement of his craft, and his increased confidence, Brent decided to put photography front and center, and go all out with it.
“I think my whole headspace going into photography and moving out here after college was just… I knew I was going to struggle because that’s with any creative thing, but also it’s New York. Everyone does the same thing,” Brent said. “For me, I knew it was going to be a struggle, but also one thing college taught me is that I’m really good with networking with people, and so all I need to know is the right people and I can get far.”
Prior to moving to New York in 2020, Brent worked as a concierge in Boston for six months before a friend reached out to him and said he needed a new roommate and knew Brent wanted to move to New York. Then, his cousin reached out to tell him that his girlfriend would be out of town for a couple of months and that Brent could come down while she was gone, which would also give him an opportunity to network. With the feeling that the universe was calling out for him to do it, Brent decided to pack up and leave for the Empire State. His family members were shocked by the announcement. They knew he would leave, but they didn’t expect it to be so soon.
“I got one life, I’m gonna do it. Also, it was the middle of COVID. No one’s doing anything. So I might as well make go,” Brent said.
His sources of inspiration
When it comes to photographers that Brent has been inspired by or admires, photographer and director Renell Medrano came up first. As a big fan of hers, Brent said that she was a major reason why he felt he could do photography, and added that she inspired him to move to New York and try to accomplish similar things that she had. Brent also named photographers such as Nadine Ijewere, Adrienne Raquel, and his friend Marlon Turner as some of the people he finds inspiration in.
“As of late, some of my friends who I’ve met out here are really big inspirations on my work,” Brent said. “(Turner is) super dope and just super helpful. Great friend that has always given me really good advice and just believed in me. So I’m just very grateful.”
Accomplishments across the board
As far as his accomplishments and honors, Brent recalled that some of his pictures have been seen on billboards. One instance is when he worked on an editorial project for rapper and singer Mike Dimes for Spotify’s Artists to Watch in 2022. The billboard was put up in Times Square for all to see. Another occasion was when his work was featured on a different billboard in Times Square for Amazon Music, which featured singer and songwriter Ambré for the Big Femme Energy show. Aside from being featured in various galleries, Brent mentioned the collective -URE Media, based in New Jersey, which released a video on Brent for the series “The Come Up” that went behind the scenes while he worked and featured interviews with him. As the first episode in the series, -URE Media made a whole night out of it and held a screening where people showed up and watched Brent in his element.
“Over the past couple of years, I’ve been getting recognition for things. I’m just like, ‘I didn’t even know you guys really mess with my work like that,’” Brent said. “It felt nice to get the recognition and just feeling like, wow, there are people who actually believe in me so much and this is crazy to me.”
Taking it as it goes
Aside from his photography, Brent enjoys things such as watching anime, playing video games, going to the gym, playing basketball, hanging out with his friends, and reading. He still tries to find ways to keep himself inspired for photography, such as going magazine shopping. As much as he can find inspiration on Instagram, he loves going through physical books and magazines in his collection to discover new ways to reinvent his artistry.
“At first when I moved here I was like, ‘How can I become the best or how can I get this and this?’ Brent said. “My mindset… I’ve just slowed down. I’m taking it as it goes. I’m having fun with it and just taking every opportunity that comes to me and being grateful for it.”
