In the summer of 1980, Charlie Ahearn began working with Fred Brathwaite and Lee Quinones on the hip hop classic Wild Style, which he wrote and directed and was first screened in 1982. After producing a number of videos on artists, Ahearn wrote and directed his next feature film Fear of Fiction in 2000. Ahearn coauthored Yes Yes Y’all: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip-Hop’s First Decade (Da Capo Press, 2002) with Jim Fricke, which featured more than one hundred photographs, many by Ahearn. Wild Style: The Sampler, Ahearn’s second book, will be published by Miss Rosen Editions/powerHouse Books in spring 2007. Currently hosting a weekly Internet radio show on WPS1.org called Yes Yes Y’all, Ahearn lives and works in New York. www.wildstylethemovie.com
The undisputed queen of the downtown scene, pioneering gallerist, actor, and It-girl Patti Astor was at the center of the storm in New York's legendary East Village in the 80s, when she appeared in over a dozen beyond-low-budget epics, including Rome '78, The Long Island Four, Snakewoman, and Underground U.S.A. She also starred as Virginia, the roving reporter, in the legendary hip hop epic Wild Style. These films are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Astor was the founder of the world famous FUN Gallery, the epicenter of the early-80s art explosion. This tenement storefront gallery, the first in the East Village, showcased such artists as Keith Haring, Jean Michel Basquiat, Kenny Scharf, Fab 5 Freddy, Zephyr, and Dondi. After closing the FUN, Astor moved to Hollywood and acted in, wrote, and produced Get Tux’d and Assault of the Killer Bimbos, awarded Trash Pick of The Week by People magazine. Author of the upcoming book, FUN! The True Story of Patti Astor (Miss Rosen Editions/powerHouse Books), she is also producing the documentary Patti Astor’s FUN Gallery and an as yet unnamed feature with Roberts/David Films. Astor lives and works in California.
Londoner Janette Beckman began her career at the dawn of punk rock working for The Face and Melody Maker. Beckman photographed groundbreaking album covers for The Police’s first three albums. Moving to New York in 1982, she was instantly drawn to the underground hip hop scene. Her photographs of the pioneers Afrika Bambaataa, Run DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, and Grandmaster Flash are collected in RAP: Portraits and Lyrics of a Generation of Black Rockers (St. Martin’s Press, 1991). Her most recent book is Made in the UK: The Music of Attitude 1977–1983 (powerHouse Books, 2005). Beckman’s work has appeared in Esquire, Rolling Stone, and Glamour, among others. She lives and works in New York. www.janettebeckman.com
For the last two years Brooklyn-based photographer, Peter Beste has been working on a photography book about the ghettos, black nightclubs, and the lifestyles of the hustlers and rappers in his hometown of Houston, Texas. Beste has had solo exhibitions in London, New York, San Francisco, Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Osaka, Oslo, and Bergen. His work has appeared in Spin, VH1, The Fader, American Photo, Vice, The Face, London Observer, Dazed and Confused, Graphic, XXL, Mass Appeal, Revolver, and many others. His book of Norwegian Black Metal photographs was released this year in Japan. www.peterbeste.com
BLADE is the King of Graf, proudly boasting, “…after 5,000 trains I was never arrested for graffiti once.” The only living artist aside from Andy Warhol to have is work exhibited on the cover of a Sotheby’s auction catalogue, BLADE began painting on trains in 1971 and has since exhibited his canvases at galleries and museums around the world.
Boogie was born in Serbia and emigrated to the United States in 1998. It’s All Good, his first book, will be released in Fall 2006 by powerHouse Books. His work has also appeared in Cube (Sartoria/Modena, 2003), as well as The New York Times, Italian Rolling Stone, Hamburger Eyes, Swindle, Vice, Mass Appeal, YRB, Ojodepez, and Made magazine, among other publications. His clients include Nike and Shellac. The finalist for the 2006 Santa Fe Prize for Photography, Boogie lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. www.artcoup.com
Martha Camarillo is a self-taught photographer from Texas. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Telegraph, Numero, Journal, i-D, and many others. Her first book, Remote Photos (Editions Léo Scheer, 2005), a collaboration with artist Avena Gallagher, was an in-depth look at the identity of teenage male and female models, made by giving the models themselves disposable cameras to be used by whomever they saw fit. Work from the project was exhibited at Léo Scheer Gallery, Paris, in 2005. Camarillo was the winner of the Hyères Festival, and the 2002 Art Director’s Award. Her first book, Fletcher Street, will be published by powerHouse Books in Fall 2006.
Henry Chalfant was born in 1940 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Stanford University with a BA in classical Greek. Later he pursued a career as a sculptor, exhibiting his work in New York and Europe. In the 1980s he turned to photo and film documentation in order to do an in-depth study of hip hop culture and graffiti art. His photographs have been exhibited at such venues as the O.K. Harris Gallery and the landmark New York-New Wave show at PS1, as well as at important galleries and museums in Europe. His photographs are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh; and the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC; amongst others. Chalfant co-authored the definitive account of New York graffiti art, Subway Art (Holt Rinehart Winston, 1984), and a sequel on the art form's world-wide diffusion, Spray Can Art (Thames and Hudson, 1987). He also co-produced the landmark graffiti film, Style Wars, which was first shown on PBS television in 1984 and released on DVD in 2003. He directed the film From Mambo to Hip Hop, for Latino Public Broadcasting, which will be broadcast on PBS in 2006. www.stylewars.com
Photographer and educator Vincent Cianni has been photographing the Southside, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where he currently lives, since 1994 and teaches photography at Parsons School of Design and the International Center of Photography, both in New York. The author of We Skate Hardcore (New York University Press/Center for Documentary Studies, 2004), Cianni’s photographs have been published in DoubleTake, Aperture, Creative Camera, The Photo Review, Photo Metro, La Fotografia, Brooklyn Bridge, The Sun Magazine, and Black and White Photography. The work was exhibited at The Museum of the City of New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Photographers’ Gallery, London; the 7th International Photography Festival in Mannheim; the Fullerton Museum; the George Eastman House; and the Griffin Museum. Cianni’s photographs are represented in the collections of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The Southeast Museum of Photography; the Biblioteque National de France, Paris; The Buhl Collection, New York City; The International Collection, Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge, Mass.; the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA; the Reader's Digest Collection, Pleasantville, NY; Brooklyn Union Gas, Brooklyn, NY; and the Musee Pierre Noel, Saint-Die-des-Vosges, France, among others, and are in numerous private collections. www.vincentcianni.com
Claw Money was born in Queens and raised in Long Island. After dropping out of the Fashion Institute of Technology, Claw began bombing with legendary writers and founded graff crew PMS. Claw has worked as a fashion stylist for Korn, Ice-T, Ice Cube, and Guns N’ Roses, and has styled for Nike, adidas, Sector Watches, and Guiness. She launched Claw Money, her signature clothing line, in Spring, 2002. Fashion editor of Swindle magazine, Claw is also co-branding with Ecko Red International, Kid Robot and Hasbro, and BPMW. Her first book, Bombshell: The Life and Crimes of Claw Money, will be released in Spring 2007 by powerHouse Books. Featured in the 2005 documentary Infamy, Claw has also been seen in Autograf: New York City’s Graffiti Writers by Peter Sutherland (powerHouse Books, 2004), Supreme Quality and Enamelized by Roger Gastman (Gingko Press, 2005 and 2004, respectively), as well as countless magazines around the world. She lives and works in New York City. www.clawmoney.com
Born February 6, 1963 and raised on the tough streets of the South Bronx, Joe Conzo was at the right place at the right time to intimately capture the birth of hip-hop music and a culture that would forever change the world. Having attended school with some of the pillars of hip hop, such as The Cold Crush Brothers, Conzo became the Crush's exclusive photographer and recorded some of the most candid and exhilarating moments of the pioneering rap group to date. With the help of flyer king Buddy Esquire, Conzo's photos graced party flyers and event posters and acted as the earliest forms of hip hop marketing and promotion. Conzo also shot legendary groups including Treacherous 3, Fearless 4, and Fantastic 5 in famed venues such as The T-Connection, Harlem World, Ecstasy Garage and The Roxy. But Conzo's contribution to urban culture isn't limited only to hip hop. Being the grandson of the late "Hell Lady of the Bronx" Dr. Evelina Antonetty, Conzo also documented the political and socio-economic conditions that played a great role in the late 70s/early 80s South Bronx. His father, Joe Conzo Sr. acted as confidant and historian of late "King of Latin Music" Tito Puente, allowing his son exclusive access to Latin music luminaries including salsa greats Hector Lavoe, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco and Ray Baretto, among others. Today, Conzo is a 14-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department, and works as an EMT. His photographs have appeared on VH1, in the New York Times, VIBE, The Source, Esquire, and Wax Poetics, among others. His work was also featured in the books Hip Hop Immortals, Yes, Yes, Y'all, and displayed at the prestigious Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York. His first book, Born In The Bronx, will be published by Rizzoli in 2007; an exhibition of the same name is currently touring the world.
Martha Cooper is a documentary photographer who has specialized in urban vernacular art and architecture for more than twenty-five years. Cooper worked as a staff photographer for the New York Post from 1977 to 1980, when she left to follow the emerging hip hop scene. In 1984, in collaboration with Henry Chalfant, she published Subway Art (Thames & Hudson), the classic book showcasing the best painted trains of the era that has been dubbed “The Bible” by graffiti writers. Cooper’s other books of photographs include We B*Girlz (Miss Rosen Editions/powerHouse Books, 2005), Hip Hop Files: Photographs 1979–1984 and Street Play (From Here To Fame, 2004 and 2006), and R.I.P.: Memorial Wall Art (Thames & Hudson, 1994) with text by folklorist Joseph Sciorra. The Director of Photography at City Lore, the New York Center for Urban Folk Culture, she lives in Manhattan. www.bgirlz.com
Old-school graffiti legend DAZE, a.k.a Chris Ellis, has been a pivotal figure in the history of graffiti art, helping break the medium into the NYC gallery scene and beyond. He has created murals all over the world including Brazil, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, and in his native New York. He has been featured in numerable books and catalogues including Public Access: Ricky Powell Photographs 1985–2005 by Ricky Powell (powerHouse Books, 2005), Martha Cooper’s Hip Hop Files: 1979–1984 (From Here to Fame, 2004), and Daze: the Agenda Paintings and Monochromes (Eastwicke Gallery, 2000) and is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, and The Brooklyn Museum, New York; Groninger Museum, and The Chase Manhattan Collection. www.dazeworld.com
Martin Dixon has been shooting American subcultures for over two decades. Whether it’s after-hours clubs in Harlem and Chicago, Urban Kids on Belle Isle in Detroit, pool sharks in Chelsea or bikers in Brooklyn, Dixon has catalogued it, adding to what he refers to as “the collective archive of African-American imagery.” A commercial photographer by trade, Dixon counts among his clients The Ford Foundation; The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation,; Oxford Health; Towers Perrin; Guiness; Lipman Hearne; and a host of record labels and popular magazines. A Cooper Union alumnus, Dixon studied under Roy DeCarava, and has been collected and exhibited widely. He is presently teaching Documentary Photography at The School of Visual Arts and is finishing a screenplay based on his first book, Brooklyn Kings: New York City’s Black Bikers (powerHouse Books, 2000). Dixon lives in Brooklyn, of course.
DR.REVOLT was born and raised in New York and is an original member of the historic New York City graffiti crew The Rolling Thunder Writers (RTW). REVOLT is known for tags, elaborate pieces on the 1 line with psychedelic colors, and comic art–influenced stylings, and later for taking it “all-city” with his contributions to the seminal hip hop films Wild Style and Style Wars, various music videos, and album covers. He created the classic “YO! MTV Raps” logo and did a tour of duty in Baltimore where he, like a “messenger of style," single-handedly kick-started a graff-scene that still feels his influence today. His place in the history of graffdom is secure. His work has been, and continues to be, seen in various publications and art galleries globally. DR.REVOLT lives in New York. http://www.nytrash.com/Revolt.html
ELLIS G. is a native New Yorker. As a former graffiti writer, his work can be found throughout the five boroughs and beyond, at The Brooklyn Front Gallery, in Autograf: New York City's Graffiti Writers by Peter Sutherland (powerHouse Books, 2004), as well as in numerous newspapers, magazines, on television, and in films. His work has appeared in Time Out New York, New York Daily News, The New York Times, Der Spiegel, and on NY 1, The WB 11, and Rai TV. ELLIS G. will publish his first book Adhesives, the ultimate compendium of graffiti, graphic design, and street art stickers with Miss Rosen Editions/powerHouse Books.
Delphine Fawundu-Buford’s photographs have been published books including Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G by Cheo Hodari Coker (Vibe Books, 2004), Black: A Celebration of Culture by Deborah Willis (Hylas Publishing, 2004), Enduring Visions: Women’s Artistic Heritage Around the World by Abby Remer (Davis Publications, 2001), Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840-Present by Deborah Willis (Norton, 2000), and magazines including Source, Vibe, and Rolling Stone. Fawundu-Buford has exhibited in both group and solo exhibitions across the United States, most recently mounting her solo exhibition Muddy Water Gumbo & High Tide Blues: Images from New Orleans-Post Katrina. Her photographs tell stories of a diverse range of people while eloquently capturing the natural essence of her subjects. Fawundu-Buford lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three sons. www.delphinefawundu.com
Carol Friedman, portrait photographer and record company creative director (Elektra Entertainment and Motown) crossed paths with hip hop figures infrequently, but when she did it was with pivotal artists. Friedman is a powerHouse kids author with new works in progress. www.carolfriedman.com
William “NIC ONE” Green has been an active aerosol artist and photojournalist for over twenty years. The co-producer and video editor of Video Graf Productions and a 2004 VH1 Hip Hop Honors honoree, Green has been exhibited at numerous venues, including at Fashion Moda Gallery, and Bronx Community College, both in the Bronx; The Whitney Museum of American Art at Phillip Morris; and Danny Simmons Gallery, Brooklyn. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Glamour, Vibe, Blaze, The Source, Ego Trip, The Eleventh Hour (PBS), The Real World (MTV Japan), as well as in books including Aerosol Kingdom and Broken Windows. Green is currently Head Art Director at 5POINTZ (The Institute for Higher Burning), Queens.
When opening Hamburger Eyes photo magazine you enter a pictorial history of both the unseen and iconic moments of everyday life. Featuring photographers including Stefan Simikich, Ray Potes, David Potes, Ted Pushinsky, Boogie, and Jason Roberts Dobrin among countless others, it is organized in such a way that it has become many things to many people. As a photo journal, they share their travels and experiences. As a photo diary, they share their accomplishments and heartaches. And as a photo album, they share their families and friends and reach people on a level they have been familiar with since their first birthday party. Inspired by the traditions that began with National Geographic and Life, they hope to revitalize the sensation of photography as a craft as well as a tool to record and document. They will publish their first book, Burgerworld: Inside Hamburger Eyes, in Fall 2007 with Miss Rosen Editions/powerHouse Books. Based in San Francisco, Hamburger Eyes Photo Magazine is published tri-annually by Burgerworld Media. www.hamburgereyes.com
The New York Daily News describes JAMES TOP as "The Spray King." This self-taught artist began his career in the East New York section of Brooklyn as a founding member of "The Odd Partners" (TOP) would make history by dominating the IND and the BMT subway lines during the mid to late 1970's. Today James is the founder of Graffiti Artist for a Positive Cause, an organization that helps charitable, political, and community organizations through art; they also beautify neighborhoods with murals and productions. JAMES TOP is producer and host of "Graffiti NYC" a weekly cable TV show that is shown on Sunday 1:30 AM on channel 67 in NYC and 12:30 AM Friday in Brooklyn. His works were featured in the exhibitions Graffiti 2005 and History in the Making Part 3, as well as "The Peoples Wall" located at 147th street between 7th & 8th avenues in Harlem.
Lisa Kahane has worked as a photographer since 1975, specializing in documentary work and portraiture. She publishes worldwide in trade and consumer magazines, newspapers, and books. A native New Yorker, she has worked on location in Europe and Central and South America. Her photographs have been exhibited internationally, featured in Urban Mythologies at the Bronx Museum and included in documentation for The American Century at The Whitney Museum. Her work is in private collections as well as the permanent collection of the New York Public Library and the Fales Library at New York University, New York, and the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. She teaches photography to kids at risk. www.lisakahane.com
Brenda Kenneally received her BS in Photo Communication and Sociology from the University of Miami, Coral Gables in 1991. She then went on to earn her Masters degree in Photography at N.Y.U.’s International Center of Photography. Kenneally has taught several youth photography programs and workshops and is a member of the United Federation of Teachers. Her work has been published in the Miami Herald, South Beach Magazine, Parents Magazine, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times Magazine. A member of the National Press Photographers Association, Kenneally has won the group’s Picture of the Year award in different categories in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000. Kenneally took part in Moving Walls, a four-person show accompanied by a grant from the Soros Foundation’s Open Society Institute. In 2000 Kenneally won the prestigious W. Eugene Smith Award for individuals working in the field of Humanistic Photography.
Brian Kenny was born in Heidelburg, Germany on an American military base in 1982. Kenny’s work is an integration of his many experiences, such as his background in competitive gymnastics, extensive travel during his youth with his family, and his time at Oberlin Conservatory in pursuit of a degree in vocal training. He also produces his own music, which displays elements of both hip hop and ambient roots. In 2004, he began a collaboration with Slava Mogutin, under the name SUPERM. Kenny has curated and displayed his work in exhibitions in Spain, Germany, Moscow, New York, and Los Angeles, using media such as drawing, graffiti, and video to create unique multimedia installations.
Seth Kushner is a freelance photographer and works for a large variety of clients including; The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, Vibe, and Business 2.0. Seth was chosen by Photo District News Magazine as one of their 30 Under 30 in 1999 and was a winner in their Photo Annual competition in 2002 and 2006.
LADY PINK was born in Ecuador and raised in New York City. She started writing graffiti at the age of 15 and soon was well known as the only female capable of competing with the boys in the graffiti subculture. Lady Pink painted subway trains from the years 1979 to 1985. She is considered a cult figure in the hip hop subculture since the release of the independent motion picture Wild Style in 1982 in which she had a starring role. While still in high school she began exhibiting paintings in art galleries and at the age of 21 had her first solo exhibit at the Moore College of Art. As a leading participant in the rise of graffiti-based art, Lady Pink’s canvasses have entered important art collections such as the Whitney Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, all in New York; the Groningen Museum of Holland; and many others. Her paintings have been exhibited worldwide at venues including The Bronx Museum of Art, The Queens Museum, and Sidney Janis Gallery all in New York; the Federal Reserve Board, Washington, D.C.; Le Case D’Arte, Milan; Lisson Gallery, Londo; and Inhound Museum, Geneva. Today, she is well documented as a community activist by creating large-scale murals throughout the city and mobilizing artists to donate public art in culturally neglected communities. Lady Pink and her husband Smith are one of the few professional mural teams to arise from the graffiti subculture. She now shares her two decades of experience by holding mural workshops with students and actively lecturing in universities throughout the US.
Le Bijoutier was born in France. The host of a weekly soul/funk/reggae/dub/hip hop/break beat radio show based in Marseille, he made his name (translated as “the jeweler”) from the care he put into his vinyl collection. "My collection was held like in a safe box: only quality music, well cared for and protected,” Le Bijoutier states. “You could come to my place to sample, but you could not bring the records home." Since 2000, he has been photographing graffiti and street art around the world, documenting its development in Paris, Marseille, Barcelona, Berlin, Geneva, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. His work was has been exhibited in NYC Street Visuals held in Marseille in 2006, featuring 300 images from his collection. He is currently working on his first book.
Maripol’s work as an art director and designer has influenced popular movements in music, fashion, and art since the early 1980s. She was the founder of Maripolitan Popular Objects Ltd., a fashion accessories company that also designed merchandising for Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” tour. Maripol has art directed films by Marcus Nispel and Abel Ferrara; and music videos for Cher, D’Angelo, Elton John, and Luther Vandross. Her clients also include Kodak, L’Oreal, Panasonic, and Peugeot. Maripol’s work has been exhibited at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Deitch Projects, and the Robert Miller Gallery, New York; and Musée Maillol, Paris. Maripol has produced films including Downtown 81, which she also art directed, Just an American Boy by Amos Poe, and Dated by Edo Bertoglio. She has been published in The New York Times Magazine, WWD, Time Out New York, ELLE, and i-D. Maripol’s books include Maripolarama (powerHouse Books, 2005), New York Beat: The Making of Downtown 81 (Petit Grand, 2001) and Mes Polas: 1977–90s (Art Random, 1990). Maripol lives in New York with her teenage son Lino.
Slava Mogutin was the last political dissident from the former Soviet Union and the first ever to become a porn star. He has received both critical acclaim and official condemnation for his outspoken writing. Chased out of his country at the age of twenty-one, he was granted political asylum in the US with the support of Amnesty International and American PEN. Mogutin is the author of seven books in Russian, and his writing has been published in six languages. The author of Lost Boys (powerHouse Books, 2006), Mogutin’s photography has been exhibited internationally and featured in such diverse publications as i-D, Honcho, Visionaire, Bound & Gagged, BlackBook, Playgirl, Flaunt, Butt, and Stern. Mogutin is currently based in New York.
A born and raised New Yorker, NATO made a name for himself in the graffiti community by painting his name extensively on rooftops facing the city’s elevated train lines. His daredevil graffiti career came to a halt in September 2000 when he was arrested and convicted of felony graffiti. As a result he re-channeled most of his artistic energy, showcasing in exhibitions at the Martinez Gallery special features throughout the city and most recently in East London. In addition to his three-year position as Graffiti Editor for YRB Magazine, NATO has had articles and photography appear in Atlantica, Frank 151, Mass Appeal, and Rime magazines, and is co-authoring Graffiti NYC (Prestel, 2006) with Hugo Martinez.
Charles Peterson is best known for his documentation of the grunge scene, culminating in the critically acclaimed photo book Touch Me I'm Sick (powerHouse, 2003), as well as a major retrospective under the same name at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk Virginia. His previous books include Screaming Life (Harper Collins 1995), and Pearl Jam Place/Date (Universe, 1997). He now shoots many different things, including a recent ad campaign for Dr Marten's and stock imagery for Getty. www.charlespeterson.net
Mark Peterson has been a photographer since 1982, working first in Minneapolis, where he was born, and then in New York since 1987. The author of Acts of Charity (powerHouse Books, 2004), Peterson’s work has appeared in New York magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Geo, and Esquire, among many others. He lives in New Jersey with his wife Greta Pratt and their two children Axel and Rose.
Ricky Powell, a native New Yorker, graduated from Hunter College with a B.S. in physical education. His work has been published in The New York Times, the New York Post, the Daily News, The Village Voice, Time, Newsweek, VIBE, The Source, Rolling Stone, Spin, Details, Paper, Mass Appeal, Word Up!, Ego Trip, and Grand Royal, to name a few. Powell’s clients have included Cannon, MTV, NBC, the Apollo Theater, Capitol Records, and Weiden + Kennedy, among others. His work has been exhibited at the Eyejammie Fine Arts Gallery, New York and Upper Playground, San Francisco and was featured in “500 of the Greatest Rock and Roll Photos,” presented by Kodak. Powell is the author of Public Access: Ricky Powell Photographs 1985–2005 (Miss Rosen Editions/powerHouse Books, 2005), Frozade Moments (Eyejammie.com, 2005), Oh Snap!: The Rap Photography of Ricky Powell (St. Martin’s, 1998) and The Rickford Files: Classic New York Photographs (St. Martin’s, 1999). He lives and works in New York. www.rickypowell.com
QUIK was unable to play baseball as a child due to a troublesome arm injury. Instead, he went on frequent subway trips to see the games played. During these trips, Lin Felton (aka QUIK) became fascinated with the graffiti that covered the trains and stations. By the time he was ten years old, Lin was skipping choir practice to tag anywhere he could, quickly becoming the uncrowned “King of the Tag” in Hollis, Queens, where he grew up. QUIK’s work, which includes graffiti art and paintings and focuses on social injustice and racial discrimination, became recognized by the art world in the 1980s. He has exhibited in art galleries and museums in the United States and internationally. QUIK has also worked in the Netherlands, where he lived during the 1990s, as a director’s assistant, production coordinator, set designer, and actor in avant-garde theater. QUIK is currently working with the New York City Department of Education/Special Education division and actively continues his creative output at SEEN Studios in the Bronx. He writes a monthly column the German hip hop magazine Backspin and has contributed text to many upcoming international publications regarding urban cultures and their artists. QUIK lives in New York. www.quiknyc.com
Born in Ponce De Leon, Puerto Rico and raised in New York City, Lee Quinones is considered perhaps the single most influential artist of the 1970s New York City subway graffiti movement. With a career that has spanned over three decades, Quinones is regarded as a leading figure in the contemporary art world. In addition to his recent induction into the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, Quinones’ paintings are included in the most prestigious art collections around the globe. His work has been exhibited at The New Museum Of Contemporary Art, New York City; Museum Of National Monuments, Paris; Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York; and the Groninger Museum, Groningen, Netherlands; among many others. He has also given countless lectures at esteemed educational institutes around the globe, and had starring roles in the 80’s hip-hop cult classics Wild Style and Style Wars. Lee Quinones has been featured in countless books and periodicals, including Hip Hop Files (Martha Cooper), The Vibe History Of Hip Hop, The New York Times, The Source, Paper, Interview, Village Voice, Arts Review, The Wall Street Journal, Art In America, Art News, Art Forum, and Penthouse.
Carlos “MARE 139” Rodriguez is a veteran of the golden years of New York City subway painting. Over the past twenty years he has transcended the prejudiced attitude towards the art form by creating innovative sculptures that echo back to the origins of style writing on trains and reach out into the realm of dynamic modern art. He has also designed the Annual BET Award sculpture, which has been received by musical artists, athletes, and actors such as Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jay-Z, Snoop Dog, and Beyoncé. Rodriguez was the recipient of the 2006 Webby Award for Style Wars and is currently working with Robert DeNiro on his current directorial effort, The Good Shepard. www.mare139.com, www.stylewars.com
A native New Yorker, Randy “KEL 1st” Rodriguez arrived into the world of graffiti from the streets of the Bronx. KEL had staked his claim on the subways of New York and within the walls of famed galleries like SOHO OK Harris Gallery and Fun Gallery, New York. The exposure led to exhibits at the Joy Horwich Gallery, Chicago, and Kornblit Gallery, Amsterdam. His work is also in the permanent collection at the Sydney Janis Gallery, New York. The transition from subway art into the commercial world began with jewelry designs for actress Debi Mazar, and singer Madonna and her company Boy Toy. Over time the world of hip hop grew and as graffiti found its place in fashion, the demand for custom necklaces and belt buckles reached into the domains of recording stars like Busta Rhymes and Kelis. He produced and designed the “The Year of The Sneaker” module for the Council of Fashion Designers Awards (CFDA) held at Lincoln Center. He also art directed The Wall Street Journal’s Special Reports websites for WSJ.com. www.kel1st.com
Thomas Roma, a two-time recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and the International Center of Photography, New York. He is the author of In Prison Air: The Cells of Holmesburg Prison, Sicilian Passage, Show & Tell, and Enduring Justice (powerHouse Books, 2006, 2003, 2002, and 2001), Sanctuary (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002), Higher Ground (Distributed Art Publishers Inc., 1999), Sunset Park (Smithsonian Books, 1998), Found in Brooklyn (W.W. Norton & Co., 1996), and Come Sunday (Museum of Modern Art/Abrams, 1996). Director of Photography at Columbia University, Roma lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son.
Born in the town of Heidelberg, Germany, RUEDIONE was an active graffiti writer before co-founding a company specializing spray paint distribution in 1993. He now runs MONTANA Germany, one of the largest suppliers of specialized spray paint in the world. In 2005, he began working professionally as a photographer, co-founding a studio with a partner in his hometown. He will be publishing his first book, Montana Writer Team—Graffiti at its Best, in 2006.
Japanese-born Q. Sakamaki moved to New York in 1986 to photograph the area’s political and social landscape. After graduating with the Master degree of International Affaires from Columbia University, Sakamaki began documenting conflict resolution worldwide, photographing war zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Liberia, Bosnia, and Kosovo. Q's photographs have been published in internationally distributed magazines including Time, Life, Stern, and L'Espresso, and in three books, including Palestine, a study of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Sakamaki has contributed to the film Liberia: An Uncivil War, directed by Jonathan Stack and has been the subject of solo shows in New York and Tokyo. www.qsakamaki.com
Jamel Shabazz was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and has been documenting urban culture for thirty years. Shabazz is devoted to teaching documentary photography to the youth in various communities both here and abroad. His ultimate goal is to bring his images alive in the form of a major feature film. Shabazz is the author of Back in the Days, The Last Sunday in Juneˆ, and A Time Before Crack (powerHouse Books, 2001, 2003, and 2005). His debut book, Back in the Days, has received astounding critical acclaim and commercial success since its initial release in 2001. His work has also appeared in the books Hip Hop Immortals (Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2003) and Black: A Celebration of a Culture (Hylas, 2004) and publications including TRACE, Suede, VIBE, The Source, British ELLE, Paris Vogue, and Jalouse. Shabazz’s photographs have been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and Kravets/Wehby Gallery, New York; the Wedge Gallery, Toronto; and La Piscine Musée d’Art et d’Industrie, Roubaix, France. www.jamelshabazz.com
During the early 1970s STAY HIGH 149's name adorned hundreds of New York City's subway cars, particularly on the IRT division. He is one of the most famous, influential and admired writers in the history of New York City aerosol art. Most notably admired for his unique tag. He also frequently wrote the phrase "Voice of the Ghetto.” One of the most famous pieces in aerosol art to date is the STAY HIGH 149 top-to-bottom on the IRT subway documented in Norman Mailer's 1974 book The Faith of Graffiti. His subway paintings also appeared in 1974 in a Richard Goldstein article for New York Magazine. He also participated in early presentations of graffiti art on canvas at Hugo Martinez's United Graffiti Artists. By 1974 STAY HIGH had pretty much retired from writing. After his retirement he was seldom seen and eventually went into total obscurity. His absence would span almost twenty years. In June of 2000 he made his first public appearance in the graffiti community at The State of the Art gallery, Brooklyn. He remains an unblemished icon within the aeorsol art culture.
Peter Sutherland is a filmmaker and photographer who was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and raised in Colorado. Sutherland worked as a director of photography on Stoked, a documentary film about famed snowboarders and convicted murderer GATOR, directed by Helen Stickler. Sutherland is the author of Autograf: New York City’s Graffiti Writers and Pedal (powerHouse Books, 2004 and 2006). He has shown his work at Bape, Tokyo; colette, Paris; The powerHouse Gallery, New York; and CC room, Berlin; among others.Sutherland is a contributing photographer to magazines such as i-D, VICE, and XXL and has made commercial photographic work for Nike, Tylenol, and Vice Records. Sutherland lives and works in New York City. www.petersutherland.net
TEAM grew up in New York City’s Greenwich Village. In the 1970’s. After graduating high school in 1978 he started a band with friends called Urban Blight as the lead singer and songwriter. Like graffiti art, he found working with the band to be a vibrant form of expression—an outlet for him and his friends to blend their experiences of growing up in the city. The band toured throughout the 80s and mid-90s. After Urban Blight disbanded in 1995, TEAM was accepted into NYU, where he majored in digital arts and writing. He graduated with honors in 2000 and is currently working on art design and graffiti art canvases.
TOOFLY was born in Ecuador and raised in New York City. After graduating from SVA, TOOFLY has gone on to apply her unique artistic style to fashion accessories, stationary labels, limited edition t-shirts, and paper goods. Her art and design work have appeared in magazines such as Mass Appeal, Juxtapoz, Kicksclusive, Fuego, Urban Latino, The Source, URB, and Honey. Her street art is currently on display at the Graffiti Hall of Fame, Hunts Point in the Bronx, and various walls throughout Williamsburg, Brooklyn. TOOFLY is a leading female urban artist, bringing diversity to a male dominated scene, and empowering young women to represent themselves true and strong. www.tooflydesign.com
Craig Wetherby was born, raised and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. A completely self-taught photographer, he began taking pictures with a technique and style all his own. With his unique outlook, he has been able to capture some of the world’s most respected artists, athletes, entertainers and musicians for several notable publications such as Spin, Rolling Stone, XXL, Vibe, Frank151, Swindle, Mass Appeal, The Fader, Stuff, Snowboard Canada, and Warp Japan. With a seemingly endless portfolio, Craig has sustained the same fresh and unspoiled vision that began his career in photography. www.craigwetherby.com
Dondi White began scribbling on streetlights near his house, around 1970; tagged using “NACO” and “DONDI” around 1976; joined The Odd Partners in 1977; founded Crazy Insides Artists in 1978; worked at Esses Studio, began making large-scale canvasses from 1980 to 81; became associated with the Soul Artists in 1981; had his first group gallery show, New York/New Wave, at PS 1 in Queens, in 1981; his first solo show at the Fun Gallery in 1982; and was featured in the film Wild Style. He was the first graffitist to have a one-man show in the Netherlands and Germany in 1983; had a retrospective at Rempire gallery in Soho and at the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands, 1992; and was featured in the Fifteen Years Aboveground exhibit. He died in 1998.
Michael Wong is originally from Los Angeles, CA, and has settled in the Lower East Side of New York City. He started his career in the mid 90’s shooting music icons including P. Diddy, Jay Z, and Aretha Franklin. The intensity of Wong’s portraits and his personal interest in pop culture lead him into extreme sports, photographing the likes of Tony Hawk and Mat Hoffman, as well into the main stream of pro sports, working with LeBron James, Lance Armstrong, and Michael Vick to name a few. The 2006 VH-1 Hip Hop project includes Afrika Bambaata, Beastie Boys, Ice Cube, Ice-T, MC Lyte, Rakim, Russell Simmons, and Wu-Tang Clan. Each member’s portrait was photographed in black and white 665 Polaroid and the backgrounds are photographed digitally which merges the “old world” of film photography to the “new world” of digital photography. www. michaelwongphotography.com
David Yellen was born in 1972 in Bayside, Queens. He graduated from SUNY Purchase, where he studied under John Cohen (There is No Eye, powerHouse Books, 2001) and Jed Devine. In 2000, Yellen traveled across America to relive a part of his past—a time of rebellion and innocence, a time when the women had big hair and rock stars stood on stage as if they were Greek gods. He traveled back to the glory days of the “Hair Bands.” Over the course of three months, he drove his red Nissan 300 ZX over 30,000 miles to capture the faces of heavy metal fans. Work from his first book Too Fast for Love (powerHouse Books, 2004) was exhibited at the Visionaire gallery and The powerHouse Gallery, both in New York City. His second book on African-American hair competitions will be published in Fall 2007 by powerHouse Books. Yellen’s photographs have appeared in publications like The New York Times Magazine, Time, Spin, Rolling Stone, XXL, ESPN, Dutch, Nylon, and V. He lives and works in New York City.