Photograph of LL Cool J in Hollis, Queens: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

He is wearing a red shirt with black, blue, yellow, and white stripes and a black, yellow, and white jacket. He is wearing a necklace and a black cap. His proper left hand is on his forehead. He is smiling and has a goatee. There is a bright light in the top proper left corner.

There is a white border around the image. It is thinnest on the two sides, thicker on the top, and thickest on the bottom. There is a tear and some yellowing on the top from where a piece of tape used to be. The back of the photograph has light grey text repeated upside down in diagonal lines. There are tears on the top and on the sides from where tape used to be. There is an inscription by Bill Adler on the bottom, handwritten in blue ink.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1993
• Photograph by: Michael Benabib, American, born 1962
• Subject of: LL Cool J, American, born 1968
• Type: portraits
• Type: inkjet prints
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 17 1/16 × 11 in. (43.3 × 27.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 11 15/16 × 8 7/16 in. (30.3 × 21.5 cm)
• Place captured: Hollis, Queens, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Rappers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2015.132.95
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Michael Benabib Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.