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A Time Before Crack

Photographs from the 1980s

Contributions by Peterson, Killa and Rodriguez
Published by powerHouse Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

Once upon a time before crack, Jamel Shabazz was on the scene, working the streets of New York City, capturing the faces and places of an era that have long since disappeared.

Once upon a time before crack, inner city communities were blighted by poverty and unemployment–but not by the drug wars that tore families apart, destroying lives with needless violence and mindless addiction. Once upon a time before crack, pride and style were as inseparable as a beatbox and mixtape, or as a pair of shoes and matching purse. Once upon a time before crack, Jamel Shabazz was on the scene, working the streets of New York City, capturing the faces and places of an era that have long since disappeared.

Best known as Hip Hop's finest fashion photographer for his blockbuster best-selling monograph, Back in the Days (powerHouse Books, 2001), Shabazz revisited his archive and unearthed an extraordinary collection of never-before-published documentary photographs collected for his third powerHouse Books release, A Time Before Crack, a visual diary of the streets of New York City from the mid-seventies to the mid-eighties, Shabazz's distinctive photographs reveal the families, the poses, and the players who made this age extraordinary.

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.

Product Details

  • Publisher: powerHouse Books (August 3, 2022)
  • Length: 184 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781648230059

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