A Snapshot of Success

Jason Martinez has photographed some of the most iconic moments in music industry history. Otherwise known by his Instagram handle, “@nike.kd,” Martinez has captured artists ranging from Drake and Travis Scott to Naomi Campbell, Swedish House Mafia and even the President of the United States at Sneaker Con Philadelphia in 2024.

“Where we come from doesn’t dictate where we can go,” says the 25-year-old Warr Acres resident. Born in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Martinez was raised in a big city in the height of the digital age before moving to Oklahoma City. “I remember when the first iPod came out, and I couldn’t get a phone at my age so my mom got me an iPod Touch which had a camera, and I thought, ‘Yo, this is about to change everything.’

“My friends and I started filming all kinds of skate videos and dancing videos, I downloaded every app I could take a photo or video with, and just recorded everything that was happening. Then our family moved to Oklahoma when I was around 10 years old to be closer to my grandparents and family, and at first it felt like a nightmare,” recalls Martinez.

The slower pace of life was a necessary change for their family at the time, and what seemed like a desert of activities soon became a breeding ground for creativity. “Before moving here, we used to come to Oklahoma all the time to visit my family and my cousins would put me on to artists like Lil Wayne, and they would be listening to Drake and Ye [Kanye West].

“We started buying all the new Jordans that came out—it was a huge trend going on. We would buy KDs, LeBrons and the ‘Kobe Era’ sneakers, so reselling my shoes became something I did because I could easily just upload my shoes to Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist from my phone.”

Having what felt like “all the time in the world” living in a slow-paced OKC suburb allowed Martinez the time to edit the photos, so he could make the shoes look as cool as possible to catch the attention of the right buyer.

“On Instagram, I started seeing other people’s photos, and thought, ‘This is pretty sick, some of these images don’t look real. How does someone even take this?’ I would see all these crazy photographers posting pictures of Travis Scott, or bands I really liked, or even photoshoots for clothes and I was like, ‘Dang, I need to get a camera and I need to go to Chicago and take photos of all the crazy stuff out there to show my friends back here in Oklahoma.’”

Martinez began working summers with his grandfather to save enough money to buy a camera and book a flight back to Chicago. “At the time, I looked up what the best camera was and it said that it was the Canon EOS 80D. So I watched every single tutorial video on YouTube to learn how to use it while waiting for it to come in.”

By the time the camera arrived, he already knew exactly how to use all of its settings, despite having only shot on his iPod up to that point. “I put it together, put the lens on it, adjusted the ISO and took a photo of my dogs. I thought it was so great that I submitted it to Canon, and they reposted it on Instagram.” That was the moment he thought, “This is crazy, maybe I’m pretty good at this.”

Martinez soon realized that photography was an expensive hobby; in order to upgrade his gear he had to keep working and selling shoes. “I would go to middle school and sell kids shoes. My P.E. teacher 100% thought I was a drug dealer. One teacher asked me, ‘Why do you have so much money on you? Don’t bring that much money to school.’” He laughs now looking back, because he wasn’t bringing it in, he was making it there.

While Martinez continued to take photos and post on Instagram, the owner of a local streetwear store, Traphouse, invited him to shoot a Migos concert happening in Oklahoma City. “My mom dropped me off at the venue after school, but I had never been to a rap concert and the Migos didn’t come on stage until 1am. But backstage I met DJ Durel, I met all the Migos, I said ‘What’s up’ to them, and just started taking photos of the whole night.”

For a freshman in high school, shooting the Migos was already an opportunity of a lifetime, even more considering it was the first concert he had ever photographed. “I went back to Chicago after my freshman year, and my family there saw I posted those photos. They were like, ‘Yo, you shoot concerts, right? You should go shoot Lollapalooza.’”

Tickets were already sold out, and staying an extra week meant that he would miss his first week of sophomore year back in Oklahoma. However, he could not resist the opportunity to keep taking photos of his favorite artists. “I bought a wristband from resale and my uncle dropped me off at Grant Park. I brought my camera and I scanned my wristband, but they stopped me and asked, ‘Where are you going with that camera?’ I’m like, ‘What do you mean? I’m about to go take some photos.’” They replied that the only options were to put his camera in the car or to throw it away. “I tried calling my uncle, but I didn’t know your phone reception doesn’t work at a music festival. I had never been to something like this and was there alone.”

His determination and confidence kicked in and he found the artists’ entrance for the festival. Two large black SUVs had just parked and they began unloading and entering the festival, so he snuck in with the large group and quickly found himself in the artists’ greenroom. “I just got to work and started shooting. No one said anything, probably because I was so young,” he laughs. 

“I kept on going to shows and kept getting better at taking photos, and then that’s when the artists were starting to notice and be like, ‘Who shot these?’”

After high school, he was interested in going to college, but he was experiencing more success reselling sneakers and designer clothing, so he decided to continue doing what was already working best for him. “I saved a good amount of money from reselling, and viewed it as my version of a ‘college fund.’ Instead of going to college, I decided to go out in the world and work as hard as I can, with the people I want to work with; and if it doesn’t work out, I tried my best, I got to travel the world and have fun.”

It’s more than pure talent that has taken him this far—his kindness and genuine love for his craft are evident on and off the stage. “I’m really good at taking photos, but if I never opened my mouth and only took photos, I don’t know where I would be right now. They like me because of who I am and how I treat people,” Martinez says. 

Oklahomans have a reputation for being friendly, and that trait is usually identifiable in large industries like these, where so many people are working to make a name for themselves. For example, Martinez was backstage at the Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert in Los Angeles in 2021, and Drake was about to go on stage. “I noticed Drake’s cross necklace was caught on his hoodie, so I gestured to him to fix his chain before going out there,” which Drake thanked him for. That initial trust allowed Martinez to begin posing him and taking photos backstage, before ending the night capturing a photo of Drake and Ye walking off stage together—it became one of the most viral images of his career.

“There’s good people here [in Oklahoma]. You don’t move here for the beach or anything; you move here for the people.” Being from Oklahoma, there is that pressure to move to a larger city in search of more opportunities, but Martinez feels that because we are so connected digitally, there are still plenty of avenues to expand your career.

“Living in Oklahoma gives me the opportunity to build and think clearly. I have my projects in front of me, and I think living somewhere else would just be a distraction. [Some] people say that things are so slow here, but you should slow down!”

Today, his career spans photography, art and design. His advice for those looking to become the next “Nike KD” is to simply, “Put yourself out there, and if you’re really worthy of it, you’ve gotta run with it.” •

Visit info.jasonmartinezart.com to see his full portfolio of work, and follow him on Instagram @nike.kd.