Zoel Kennedy

ZOEL KENNEDY (born Grimes June 24, 1979) is one of the few notable African American female photographers. Zoel is widely known for her black and white depictions of celebrities using the digital media and her beautiful self-portraits. Zoel Kennedy was not always a photographer. She was once the promotion director for the Chris Tucker's Comedy Cafe in Altanta Georgia from 1998-2000 owned by actor/comedian Chris Tucker. Because of this promotion, Zoel was featured in the Sister 2 Sister magazine's "Office with a View" section July 1999 issue. Zoel has also dabbled in the PR field in which she landed a job in 1998 with former Denver Broncos player Neil Smith at the All Star Cafe Atlanta.

Early career
Zoel has been involved in the Entertainment Industry since 1992. She started off as a DJ in the San Francisco Bay area tutored by the Bay Area Celebrity DJ Z. She the went on to open for acts such as Kid Capri in San Francisco and Jay-Z and Foxy Brown in Chicago in the mid-90's. She took a hiatus from the business for two years upon entering back into the business was hired as a part-time DJ for Chris Tucker's Comedy Cafe in Atlanta. Owned by Comedian Chris Tucker. From there she moved up to being the Lead Promoter for the street-team and in charge of the marketing of the club. Just recently Zoel was cast as a extra in the HBO movie "Recount" which was directed by Jay Roach.
Photography
Zoel has always had a love for photography as far back as she can remember. She was going to enroll into the photograpy program at Delaware State University but was deterred by a friend who convinced her that the class was too expensive and she would not be able to afford the equipment. A decision she has regretted for a long time.
After moving back to NYC in late 2009 the photography bug bit Zoel harder than ever. She went on to buy a camera and a lens and started taking pictures of anything an everything. Her talent was recognized by HA! Comedy Club owner and was hired as the resident photographer for the club. Her exhibit at the club consists of hundreds of photos of New Yorkers, tourists, comedians (famous and up and coming) and everything in between. Because of being exposed by the club Zoel started getting free-lance job offers from the comedians and customers, actors and actresses.
Zoel is no stranger to the red carpet either. She recently was invited to photograph the Premier of "For Colored Girls" by Tyler Perry. Her photography collection now includes Janet Jackson, Thandie Newton, Whoopie Goldberg, Loretta Devine, and Tyler Perry himself. She also has photos of Kristen Chenoweth, Sean Hayes, Jennifer Anniston, Steve Carrell, R & B singers Estelle and Macy Gray, and actress Kerry Washington.

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