‘My name is John Anthony Brooks, I was raised in Cabrini-Green housing project. A place where crime and murder exists on a daily basis. A place I call home. I’ve been photographing since the age of five. I was the only child in my kindergaden class to bring a photo that I had taken to show and tell. I want to show the world that there are beautiful people in the projects. Not everyone is bad. I’m an insider to a world not to many want to see. I love to make images. I’ve had my photos published in several magazines and newspapers; DoubleTake Magazine, New York Times, Chicago Magazine. I also have a book published named Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago, which is now a movie on ShowTime. I was also an photographer for City2000.’
John also recently won a Photo Award for the Photo Essay published in VIBE Magazine.