Renowned Filmmaker and Photographer Joshua Kissi Joins division7

Joshua Kissa is a Ghananian-American filmmaker, photographer and creative director based in New York City whose work celebrates the vibrance of underrepresented communities through a cultural and historical lens.  

Raised in the Bronx, NY, Joshua grew up with an affinity for the arts despite the lack of exposure and accessibility to creative industries. He began his journey as the co-founder of Street Etiquette, a blog documenting men's style with a focus on Black men that became an online sensation with a large following. Street Etiquette was featured in magazines such as GQ, Complex, Essence and Fantastic Man. The New York Times published an article, 'Serious About Cool' documenting its cultural success. 

While Joshua found meteoric success with Street Etiquette, filmmaking and photography was always his first love and passion. He picked up his first camera at the age of seventeen, and since then, he has used his talent as an artist to empower communities of color while humanizing and diminishing stereotypes and prejudices in the images he creates.

His triumphant films and photographs tell stories that are often unrecorded with intentionality, respect and care. His work is soulful, distinctive and emotive, representing a truly unique view on humanity and the world.  He’s worked with a diverse list of clients including Beats by Dre, Nike, Google, NYT Style Magazine, InStyle, Vogue, and the New York Times Op Docs, to name a few.

“Joshua is perfection.  Looking through his body of work, one cannot help but be moved viscerally.  We couldn’t be more excited for him to be joining the division7 family”, says Kamila Prokop, co-managing director of division7 along with David Richards.

Joshua is also the co-founder of See in Black, a collective of 80 Black photographers with the mission of elevating Black visibility, and TONL, a company transforming stock photography to reflect the diverse people and narratives that are overlooked in traditional media today.  

Joshua has been featured as Inc. Magazine’s '30 under 30' for his work and most recently selected as Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People. 

“Storytelling has always moved me to think grander, larger and more in depth about the world we’re presented. Telling stories from behind the lens is like capturing a sense of who a person is at their core and that alone is a privilege. We do not own stories, people or ideas, we simply have the liberty and privilege of sharing them. I hope to tell more narratives that break down walls and build more bridges. It is an absolute pleasure to be joining the division7 team alongside a talented roster of not just filmmakers but world changers in their own way. “ said Joshua Kissi.