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Background information
Created
since the early 1980s, and in the spirit of street photography, Jamel
SHABAZZ’s works document passengers on the popular New York transit
system, capturing their fashion, moods, and travelling companions.
As
New York’s lifeline, the transit system connects all of the city’s
districts and residents. Nowhere else is there such an immediate meeting
of the different nationalities and cultures of the 'melting pot' – an
aspect which has drawn the native New Yorker to the stations and trains
of the subway time and again to create key works. Some of them, such as
'Rush Hour' (1988), have long since become iconic images. With the
camera as a constant companion and always close to the action, Jamel
SHABAZZ succeeds in capturing images that document the sociology and
history of the city. As early as the 1980s, Jamel SHABAZZ recorded the
city’s mood of crisis, brought about by crack cocaine and drug crime,
and the changes in the social fabric that accompanied it. Throughout the
1990s and 2000s into the present, he has traced the development of the
city on its trains and buses with his distinctive photographic
aesthetic.
With his unclouded
gaze, Jamel SHABAZZ has also captured youth culture with its individual
lifestyle and fashion sense. Young people pose before his lens, their
gestures underpinning their self-assured presentation. Whether in black
and white (silver gelatin print) or color (chromogenic print), the
scenes in his visual diary appear as casual observations of random
encounters, immortalized through his images. But his familiarity with
his subjects also shapes his way of working: in asking them about their
bonuses hopes and desires he gains their trust.
Content
The catalog volume 'City Metro' by Jamel SHABAZZ shwos on 51 pages Radiating a love of life, many of the color images are reminiscent of contemporary selfie culture in which young people share their identity with the world. Jamel SHABAZZ’s documentations of 1980s youth are timeless, captivating us with their energy and spontaneity.