Atlanta-born Jonathan Simmons, widely known as Gunner Stahl, was working at a Dick’s Sporting Goods three years ago. Now the 27-year-old photographer is a phenom in the industry, widely-recognized for his raw portraits of famous rappers including the late icons Nipsey Hussle, Mac Miller, and Juice Wrld.

Stahl recently compiled an intimate selection of captures for his new book titled Portraits: I have So Much to Tell You. The book features archival images alongside recent, spur-of-the-moment snaps of Lil Yachty, The Weeknd, Playboi Carti, Gunna and more. To celebrate the publication, the artist teamed up with Red Bull Music Festival Atlanta to launch a solo exhibition on November 1 featuring large-scale displays of the portraits in his new book.

For our latest episode of HYPEBEAST Diaries, we caught up with Stahl in his Atlanta studio to discover the man behind the viewfinder, his obsession with anime (preferably Gundam Wing), and his thoughts on whether or not print medium is dead.