Back in the Days

by Jamel Shabbaz, Jamel Shabazz (Photographer), Ernie Panicciolo (Contribution by)

Overview

Back in the Days documents the emerging Hip Hop scene from 1980-1989-before it became what is today's multi-million-dollar multinational industry. Back in the days, gangs would battle not with guns, but by breakdancing. Back in the days, the streets-not corporate planning-set the standards for style. Back in the days, Jamel Shabazz was on the scene, photographing everyday people hangin' in Harlem, kickin' it in Queens, and cold chillin' in Brooklyn.

Street styling with an attitude not seen in fashion for another twenty years to come, Shabazz's subjects strike poses that put supermodels to shame-showing off Kangol caps and Gazelle glasses, shell-top Adidas and suede Pumas with fat laces, shearling coats and leather jackets, gold rope chains, door-knocker earrings, name belts, boom boxes, and other designer finery. For anyone who wants to know what "keepin' it real" means, Back in the Days is the book of your dreams.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781576871065
Publisher:	powerHouse Books
Publication date:	10/01/2001
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	479,864
Product dimensions:	7.25(w) x 9.75(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Jamel Shabazz is best known for his iconic photographs of New York City during the 1980s. A documentary, fashion, and street photographer, he has authored 12 monographs and contributed to over three dozen other photography-related books. His photographs have been exhibited worldwide and his work is housed within the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Fashion Institute of Technology, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Getty Museum, The Dean Collection and the National Portrait Museum, among others. Over the years, Shabazz has instructed young students at the Studio Museum in Harlem’s “Expanding the Walls” project, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture “Teen Curator’s” program, and the Bronx Museum’s “Teen Council.” He is the 2023 recipient of the Lucie Foundation Award for his achievement in documentary photography, and the 2022 awardee of the Gordon Parks Foundation/Steidl book prize. As an artist, Shabazz’s primary object is to contribute to the preservation of world history and culture .His books published by his long time home publisher powerHouse Books include Back in the Days, A Time Before Crack, Last Sunday in June, Seconds of my Life, Back in the Days Remix, Back in the Days Coloring Book.

Editorial Reviews

Shabazz's photographs celebrate the "cool" style of early hip-hop culture between 1980 and 1989. Though his work is firmly rooted in the tradition of urban street photography, Shabazz here shows his subjects striking a pose and staring straight into the camera. The resulting images become less documentary and more yearbook-like in style. At first viewing, the clothes and posturing seem almost ridiculous, until we remember the excesses of the 1980s. By comparing the styles and attitudes of this bygone era to contemporary hip-hop culture, Ernie Paniccioli's essay places Shabazz's photos within a historical and social context. He points out that like all fresh and honest trends, the hip-hop style has become sadly commodified and more concerned with status than substance. But in the early era presented here, the focus was never style for style's sake it was about rebellion and survival. Shabazz, who has published his photos in the Source, Vibe, and other magazines, documents his "passion for photography and his love for his people" while raising important issues of racial justice and equality. Free self-expression is communicated through hair, clothing, shoes, jewelry, and, most importantly, posturing. An important examination of urban and youth culture through colorful photographs, this is recommended for all public and academic libraries. Shauna Frischkorn, Millersville Univ., PA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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