Jamel Shabazz and the Urban Style
February 12, 2023
Writer: Hannah Tiller
Editor: Jessica Isser
Hip-Hop, baggy pants, graffiti style, and the metropolis — these themes drive the glorious work of urban street photographer Jamel Shabazz. Shabazz’s collection promotes the utmost nostalgia for the 1980’s and 1990’s New York City experience. It highlights the excellence of minority city-dwellers with the spunky eye required during the vivacious Hip-Hop Era, which was especially bustling in Brooklyn.
It’s easy to feel a disconnect from images over 30 years old. It’s easy to laugh at the boomboxes and bucket hats scattered in the collection. However, I can’t help but feel a particular familiarity with some of the images, as if this era is cycling back to the 21st century.
My first experience interacting with Shabazz’s work was this past summer in New York City, the playground for his famous urban photography. My NYU summer class on urban art took a memorable field trip to the Bronx Museum to observe his exhibit, Eyes on the Street.
From the bustling subway to the reflective silence of the gallery, I was excited to take in the photos of the artist I had studied so intently. Upon entrance into the gallery, I was immediately stricken by a serious video interview of him playing on a projected screen. He described the plethora of people in his images.
He spoke of his photographed subjects — the frequently struggling minority class — amid the crack epidemic, the rising crime/murder rate, and political hostility enduring within the city. Nonetheless, Shabbaz’s camaraderie with his subjects, and his indisputable ability to connect with anyone from B-Boys to school-age children, shines through the camera. This became increasingly evident as I began to stroll through the gallery, scanning the images before me.
Big gold chains. Subway dwellers. Short shorts. Hip-hop groups. You name it, he’s taken a picture of it, and the subjects know how to style the heck out of this fashion. With hands-on-hips and eccentric poses, the 80’s style was undeniable. An industrial cityscape background, often with the chaos of graffiti and the roar of the subway, frames the people. I find it hard to imagine them as struggling. Instead, they seem dignified, with eyes humbled and softened against the harshness of the city.
Upon closer inspection, I admire the film-like quality of the images. They cast a soft glow over the city full of struggling people, illuminating them in a light of joy. Seeing people of color represented in this light during this time brings me contentment. Despite the chaos, there is an undeniable sense of community shining through the images.
Aside from the community and joy shining through, there is a sense of style beyond comparison. I see thick glasses around the eyes of men in matching nylon sweatsuits. I see massive hoops dangling from the ears of women sporting eccentric prints.
I can’t help but think about my recent purchase of chunky gold hoops and baggy parachute pants. These trends are sprinkled everywhere, like little pieces of 80’s NYC infiltrating my social media. I consider the Princess Polly parachute pants and the leather coats sported by Hailey Bieber. None of it’s new. It’s right there in Jamel Shabazz’s work.
We cannot deny the return of urban style today, a style so prominently represented in Shabazz’s work. However, to understand its return, we must pay homage to the influence of street style captured in the 80’s and 90’s in NYC. Moreover, perhaps, we should take a lesson from Shabbaz’s aim to capture the funk of a struggling city with all the necessary tenderness.
Consider, next time you feel weighed down by anxiety, paying late rent, or pandemic pressures, popping on the fashion that lifts you up. I know I appreciated it in Shabbaz’s street photography. Whether that’s low-waist jeans or fanny packs, take a lesson from Shabbaz’s subjects and lean into your funky side.
Image: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/260786634664930505/
