Story Photos

Jamel Shabazz

Jamel Shabazz is a photographer who has a self professed goal of "spreading the message of love and peace". He was born in Brooklyn NY and has been photographing what he entitles "urban culture" for 30 years.

His work Back In The Days chronicles the hip-hop culture at its birth in the New York region attempting to contrast the vast differences between modern day hip-hop and the culture of hip-hop before it became commercialized. Hip Hop in the 80s revolved around New York and there in he chose to primarily photograph its boroughs and those that represented the scene at that time.

I personally can relate and enjoy his work as hip-hop in this era was largely connected to fashion and what would become the sneaker culture. Thus, his work is highly representative of, not only the lifestyle, but also the apparel of those who represented this birth of hip-hop and its various facets. This is visible in the sneakers and clothing photographed above.

Jamel Shabazz also reflects on New York in a time period before my generation and therein holds another element of intrigue for a student like myself. Shabazz photographs areas of New York that hold completely different significance in my era than they did in his. It is vital to understand what these areas were when analyzing what they are now in my day and Shabazz facilitates this trip back in time. This is visible in the photography of the subway car featured above.