Ray, Mohammed Langston Hues, or Langston Hues has been a good friend of mine since way back in the day. We first initially connected over the internet and then he came over to Japan from Detroit, Michigan where we both got the chance to meet face to face. As we both share a lot common interests like skateboarding, music, fashion, traveling, and photography, we got around to hanging out a ton in Japan. This all happened back in early 2007 and I actually haven't seen him since until just the other night.
Seven years later I met up with Ray (R) along with some new friends Brandon (L) and Alaa (C) as he was only in Tokyo for a night. We headed for a sheesha lounge to catch up on life and it is amazing to see how much Ray has grown as a person both personally and professionally.
He runs this popular movement called Modest Street Fashion, which is a collection of photographs that commemorate the emerging culture of modest street style that has erupted around the world - particularly Muslim fashion. There are tons of "street fashion" blogs out there but I like this one because it's super niche.
Ray has been traveling the world photographing people on the streets and has gotten a lot of media coverage regarding his Modest Street Fashion project. One particular interview that I'm deeply honored to hear is Ray's interview on BFM 89.9 The Business Station in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Listen to it here. At the 6:53 mark, my name was mentioned for some reason as being a mentor or inspiration to Ray's photography work. Although I've been shooting full-time professionally since 2008 (which is not that long at all), I still don't think I have enough street cred to label myself has being either a mentor or inspiration to someone else. But I guess for me to change someone's life by doing what I love, even if it's just one single person, is all that matters to me at the end of the day. Money, being present in the crowd of cool people, and the number Likes don't mean a damn thing for what I do but to turn someone's life around is everything for me.
www.modeststreetfashion.com. Check it out.