By Tai Saint Louis
The international Hip-Hop community has banded together to help French authorities in their search for Hip-Hop photographer Hermann Deza.
The 33-year-old was last seen leaving his house on December 26 and has not been heard from since.
Deza, known among his peers as Hermosdef, has neither his wallet nor his cell phone with him.
His family and friends have circulated a flyer with his picture and contact information for authorities in Puteaux, France, a northern suburb of Paris.
In addition to posting the flyer on several popular French and US blogs, Deza’s family and friends are also utilizing social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to help in the search.
They have even encouraged supporters to help further by using the flyer as their profile avatars.
The French-born son of Ivory Coast immigrants in Paris, Deza first became interested in photography while studying in London.
Describing both music and photography as his passions, he has made a career of capturing Paris’ vibrant soul and Hip-Hop community through portraits he calls “Afropics.”
His works include photos of US artists performing in France, such as Musiq Soulchild and Method Man, as well as some of the artists at the forefront of American-inspired urban music in France, including Les Nubiennes, soul vocalist Agnes Paris, and rappers Booba and Tiemoko.
He is a member of the Jazzefique Hip-Hop collective.
Anyone with information about Hermann Deza’s whereabouts is asked to contact the police precinct in Puteaux at +33 01.55.91.91.40.
Calls can also be directed to +33 06.63.85.98.23 or 06.13.58.88.33
