Eyeshot 50mm #40 | Mike Miller: Photographing Tupac, Snoop & the Rise of West Coast Hip Hop

Mike Miller joins Eyeshot 50mm to reflect on Tupac, Snoop Dogg, trust, access, iconic imagery, and how photography can outlive the culture industries that commission it.

Tupac Shakur shows his torso tattoo flanked by four men before an industrial building, in a color photograph by Mike Miller.

Mike Miller joins Eyeshot 50mm to talk about photographing Tupac, Snoop Dogg, Eazy-E, and the rise of West Coast hip hop from the inside. Miller reflects on growing up in Los Angeles, discovering photography through skateboarding and music, and building trust with artists at the center of a cultural shift. We talk about hip hop imagery, access, instinct, iconic album covers, the difference between commercial work and cultural documentation, and why some photographs outlive the industries that commissioned them. From analog process and Polaroids to social media, overproduction, and the future of music photography, this is a conversation about staying true to your eye while history is unfolding in front of you.

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Eyeshot 50mm is a long-form conversation series with photographers working across street and documentary photography. Each episode is recorded in dialogue with a guest, expanding on the questions that move their practice. The series is part of the editorial work of the Eyeshot team in Italy.

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