Arab Lincoln, real name Tyler Mansour, grew up in Goose Creek, South Carolina, before making his mark on the streets of New York City with KITH. His journey is a story of passion, community, and creativity rooted in sneakers. What started with childhood memories of Michael Jordan and the magic of Space Jam grew into a lifelong obsession, one that found a home on NikeTalk, the legendary online forum that connected sneaker lovers worldwide. Along the way, he discovered photography, turning his lens toward the shoes he once dreamed of owning, and eventually helping to shape the visual identity of brands like Kith. In this conversation, @Arab_Lincoln reflects on his earliest sneaker memories, the influence of online communities, his time at Kith, and how he’s carving out his own path as a creative, storyteller, and photographer in today’s evolving sneaker culture.
Growing up in South Carolina, what are your earliest sneaker memories?
Honestly, sneakers go back even before I had clear memories. I don’t know if this is normal, but I feel like I didn’t really form my own perspective until I was around six or seven. That would’ve been around 1996 or 1997, when Jordan was on his second stint with the Bulls. I vividly remember watching those games live with my dad, just being completely enamored by him as an athlete. My brother and dad both loved basketball too, so we’d play and follow the sport together. Naturally, watching the NBA and seeing the GOAT do his thing was magical for me at seven years old.
Around that same time, Space Jam dropped. That movie collided both of my worlds. I loved cartoons and Looney Tunes, and suddenly that was combined with my other passion, basketball and Michael Jordan. As a kid, I thought, “Man, I could die happy right now, this is perfect.” I remember noticing the sneakers he wore in the film, especially the Space Jam 11s. I thought, “I need those. How do I get them?” That was probably my first real moment of wanting sneakers, not just shoes for going outside, but something I actually cared about. That’s when I realised I didn’t mind putting shoes on to go play or get dirty, because I wanted them on my feet. So yeah, that’s definitely my earliest sneaker memory.
You’ve said you were active on the forums. How did community and people around you influence your passion?
Discovering NikeTalk was huge. That was the first time I didn’t feel so alone in being obsessed with sneakers. Of course, even in Goose Creek, South Carolina, people loved shoes, new Jordans, new Air Forces, Superstars, whatever. But NikeTalk connected me with people who were just as passionate on another level, and that really pulled me deeper into sneaker culture.
I always liked sneakers, but I wanted to go deeper than just wearing them. I wanted to understand why they were made a certain way, why this colour, why this material, what was the story behind them. When I discovered NikeTalk and saw people sharing all this information, even about future releases, it felt like unlocking a secret key that no one else around me had. Suddenly, I wasn’t just learning about what was on my feet, I was also getting a glimpse into the future of sneakers. That gave me a real sense of belonging, like I wasn’t alone in my obsession.
As I got more involved, I started posting, figuring out how the community worked, and noticing which users really knew their stuff. It became this incredible hub of knowledge, and at that point I felt like my future was cemented. I just knew, somehow, that sneakers were going to be a part of my career and my livelihood. I was determined to find a way into the industry.
Was this also when your passion for photography began?
It started bubbling on the side. At first, I thought basketball might be my path. I felt I was pretty good, went to some camps, even won a few trophies, so I was feeling myself. But when I got to high school, I didn’t make the team. I’ll be honest, I think there were some politics involved, but in the end, everything worked out how it was meant to.
Around that same time, a photography club started up. My parents had gotten a computer that came with a free camera, companies used to throw in extras like that back then, so I already had something to experiment with. Social media platforms like MySpace and Facebook were just starting to blow up, and posting pictures became a daily thing. So then I asked myself, what should my subject be?
That’s when I came across a NikeTalk thread called “Post Your Sick Pics of Sneakers.” And it clicked. Sneakers were already something I thought of as art pieces, and seeing other people photograph them in creative ways made me realise that’s exactly what I wanted to do. I had a camera, I had a point of view, and I wanted to express it. People on the forums would also share old Nike, Adidas, and New Balance ads, which really caught my eye. I remember thinking, “There’s someone out there creating these. Why couldn’t that be me?” Everything just started coming together around that time. So when I tell people I got into photography because of sneakers, and they look at me funny, I always explain, this was my vision from the beginning.
Do you remember what you were photographing back then? I assume it started with your own collection, right?
It was strictly just my own collection for a long time. After a while I was introduced to a boutique called Bazaar back in Charleston, which is in the downtown area of South Carolina. It was really the only source of streetwear in the boutique sense of having shoes that werent available from the mall. So I started a pretty close with the owner and we became pretty good friends just through like me coming to the store all the time to see like what he had. Through that relationship, I ended up actually taking photos for him of some of the product. That was my first paid photography gig.
Early on it was just little opportunities here and there, definitely not enough to make a living. But at that stage, it wasn’t really about that. I was still learning and trying to figure things out. Information back then wasn’t nearly as easy to find as it is now. I’d have to run what felt like triple or quadruple Google searches just to land on a basic answer that might point me in the right direction for what I was trying to do with photography. But it meant a lot when someone finally took an interest and gave me a shot, even just a small opportunity. That’s really how it started.
Do you remember the first brands that reached out to you?
Actually, the first big connection wasn’t them reaching out to me, I reached out and it was with Ronnie Fieg. I had taken a photo of something from my own collection, a pair of his ASICS from the East Coast Project in 2011, the Miami colourway. When I got them in hand, I was blown away. I had never thought of ASICS as something stylish before, they were a performance shoes to me. Seeing them in person changed that. It’s funny now, because performance is having this big fashion moment. But back then, that pair felt so different. I decided to take what I thought was the best photo I had ever composed and post it to Instagram. At the time, Instagram was still pretty new, so I figured I might actually get his attention. I captioned it: “@RonnieFieg you’re going to give me an opportunity to shoot for you. Period.” Hit submit, sent it out into the atmosphere.
Within five to seven minutes, I got a like from him. A minute later, he commented: “I guess I will.” That was the start of our relationship. He started shipping product from New York down to Goose Creek, South Carolina, where I’d photograph it, then send it back. We kept that going for about five or six months. Eventually, we got on a call, and he offered me an internship in New York. That’s when I started shooting footwear for Kith. About five or six months into the internship, they offered me a full-time position. It was wild, such a journey.
What was it like to watch a brand like Kith grow from the inside?
Honestly, it was one of the proudest experiences of my life. When I first got there, the shop was literally two rooms, a sneaker room and a boot room. By the time I left, they had expanded into multiple stores, fashion shows, and hundreds of collaborations. The growth was exponential, and being part of that ride was incredible. Obviously, I wasn’t the only driving force behind Kith’s growth, but being able to play a part, especially early on, was meaningful. I helped elevate the footwear visuals, which in turn brought attention from other brands and contributed to building Kith’s identity.
I’m always proud and excited to see how far Kith has come. To see Ronnie’s early vision grow into something even bigger than anyone imagined, it’s just so cool. What I want to emphasise is that it’s not just about the brand, it’s about the people. There are so many unsung heroes who make everything possible. Even people who weren’t directly involved in shoots, security guards, warehouse staff, back-of-house workers, they all played critical roles. For example, my friend Joel, who worked in the back, was like the glue that held the company together at one point. People don’t see that side. The inside of a company is never as glamorous as the public-facing side. There were times when I’d help out just to support the warehouse team, especially when we were swamped with phone orders. We were growing so fast that it was overwhelming, and those guys had to grind to keep everything together.
I was up at crazy hours, like popping out of a trap door onto the street, straight into the UPS truck. It was wild. And it wasn’t always nice weather either, sometimes it was a blizzard, but that’s New York. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without some of these key people. They’re friends, real friends. I still talk to my boy Joel, who just had his second kid. And that’s the thing, I always say one of my favourite parts of the company wasn’t even the products. Yeah, the products were cool, seeing things early was amazing. But the best part was the relationships. The people. I even met my wife through that. That’s one of the best things to happen in my whole career, finding my partner.
Can I ask were you part of the “Kith preset”? Many people think Kith’s photography can be a little misleading.
That’s a fair question. Early on, there were different filters used for different things, it wasn’t just one universal look applied across the board. And to clarify, I didn’t shoot any official assets of recent, so I can’t speak directly to that but here’s some context. When I was there, the workload was intense. I’d sometimes shoot twenty to twenty-five pairs of shoes in a single day. People outside the industry don’t always realise how much product passes through the pipeline. And with so much volume, things can get a little inconsistent in editing.
Back when I was shooting alone, I had the product in front of me. That meant I knew exactly what it looked like, how to colour grade it, and how to make the images accurate while still looking good. Now there’s a whole team of editors and photographers, which naturally introduces variation, and sometimes miscommunication.
James – It’s kind of an inside joke in the industry.
Here’s how I usually explain it: lifestyle photography is there to set the mood, to establish the vibe around the product. E-commerce shots, on the other hand, are supposed to give the truest representation of what you’ll actually get. But when you see shoes shot with dramatic lighting, unique backgrounds, or stylised textures, that’s marketing, it’s not always meant to be a literal depiction.
And that’s true for every big brand. Marketing is designed to grab your attention. There’s a fine line between presenting a product in the best possible light and outright misrepresenting it. I’ve even seen companies, outside of footwear, go so far that even as an expert, I was shocked by how misleading the photos were. It’s like when you see models in a campaign, they’re gorgeous, but in real life they don’t look anything like the polished, retouched version in the editorial. That’s just the nature of the industry.
So after working at Kith and doing your internship, you decided to leave and start your own freelance business. How did that come about? What pushed you to go solo?
At that point, I’d been at Kith for nearly 10 years, and I felt it was time to start my own chapter. Kith was in a strong place, and I didn’t feel like my leaving would put the footwear photography side in trouble. The person who took over, Neil Sarkar, was someone I’d trained, and he was incredibly talented even before joining me. Honestly, one of the most gifted people I’ve ever met. Training him was a pleasure, and after just two or three months, I knew he’d be fine. Here’s the thing: being creative is different from being a creative. Everyone has the capability of being creative, no doubt in my mind. But being a creative is something else, it’s devoting your life to the craft. It’s not just a hobby. It means sacrifices: losing friends, missing family time, giving up weekends, sleepless nights. But if you decide to take it seriously, it becomes your life’s work.
Neil made that decision, I made that decision, and so many others do too. So when the time came, I knew Neil had things handled, and I felt good about where the company was heading. That’s when I made the decision to leave and start my own journey. It was bittersweet, because I still think about the team all the time. But I stay close with them, and I was actually invited to their fashion show this Sunday, which I’m excited about. It’ll be good to reconnect and see what they’re working on.
What was it like negotiating contracts, building things for yourself, and moving from a steady paycheque to having to handle deals?
That was definitely a learning curve. Still is. It really comes down to just starting somewhere, getting your footing. When I was full-time at Kith, I had a salary. So when I went freelance, I had to start doing calculations, thinking about time, crunching numbers, just to figure out a baseline. But then you realise you’re not just a photographer or creative. You also have to be a salesperson. You’re selling yourself, your services, your vision. So it’s about compiling your work, attaching data points, and asking yourself, “What is my time worth?” Most of the time people undervalue it. Rarely will anyone overvalue your time. Then it’s just about negotiating. Sometimes the talks continue, sometimes they don’t. It’s a grind, a hustle. And even two years in, I’m still figuring it out.
Luckily, when I was at Kith, I met a lot of people and built networks. I never did it with the intention of leaving, but when I did, I had a strong catalog of contacts. So I just reached out: “Hey, I’m freelance now, let’s work together if you’re interested.” That’s been going pretty well. No complaints. The biggest adjustment is managing my own time, being organised, detailed, and taking initiative. Because nothing just falls in your lap. Even if someone knows you, they want to be pitched. They want to hear what you have to say, then see what you can deliver. Some people need it in black and white first. Corporate budgets are strategic, they’re not just going to hand things out.
The market’s shifted, less hype-driven, more focused on technology and storytelling, how do you navigate that change?
Honestly, I think it’s a good thing. When the market’s too hot and sneakers are selling themselves, brands don’t always see a reason to put a budget behind storytelling. But when products are more mass-market and meant for day-to-day, they need that push. That’s where I come in. Take my recent JD Sports and ASICS campaign. It wasn’t just me taking pictures. I helped build the deck, found talent, pitched locations, I was art directing the whole thing before shooting it. And I actually enjoy that.
To me, it’s one thing to be sent a product and take nice photos. But it’s another to craft the whole vision: how it should be shot, who should wear it, how they should wear I chose what story we’re telling. That’s where I see my trajectory, moving toward directing and eventually delegating. Because as much as I’ll always love taking photos, it can be tiring. I’d like to pass the vision on to people I trust, let them execute, while I oversee. I mean, I’ve put in my time. I’ve been stomach-flat on New York sidewalks, sniper-style, just to get the right sneaker shot. Rain or shine, snow and blizzards, that product had to be captured. And I loved it. I couldn’t imagine doing anything different in those years. But all that work builds you into something and
What makes a sneaker truly photogenic? When you get something new, you must have an idea whether it’s going to be hard to shoot, and there must be some pairs that are just a joy. What really excites you?
For me, it’s innovation. Whenever I see something new, even if it’s not something I’d personally wear, if it feels fresh and innovative, that’s what really gets my gears going. Beyond innovation, I love unique materials and colourways, especially when people block or style them in unexpected ways. I love when accessories or additions transform the shoe, because then I get to act like a narrator, helping tell that story.
On the flip side what’s one of your least favorite things?
Rawhide leather laces. Holy shit, they’re a nightmare. Especially if the shoe doesn’t have reinforced eyelets. Trying to re-lace them? Good luck. You really have to get creative, and it’s never fun.
What’s next for Makeshift Studios and Arab_Lincoln? Any projects you’re excited about?
I do see myself moving toward more delegation, leading more, overseeing creative direction. But I still want to be involved in every capacity: photographing, creating, marketing. And yes, designing a shoe is absolutely a dream. Every sneakerheads wants that. I’ve done some custom work before, and while I respect people who run workshops and teach photography, that’s not my goal. My custom work is artistic expression, a personal vision.
I’ve taken a step back in that space to save ideas for when the time is right. I want to create products, continue photographing, and see it all come together. Honestly, I’m obsessed with products, not just sneakers. Pokemon cards, sports cards, books, I love it all.
James: You should make a coffee table book covering your sneaker photography, I’d buy it.
Hearing stuff like that validates what I’m thinking in my head, it inspires me to act on ideas. It’s good to know the things I’m imagining aren’t crazy.
