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1 of 37A Dog Owner Showing the Strength of His Pit Bull Terrier, Lower East Side, Manhattan, 1980.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 2 of 37Flying High, Brownsville, Brooklyn, 1982.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 3 of 37The Brothers, Downtown Brooklyn, 1983.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 4 of 37A Time of Innocence, Flatbush, Brooklyn, 1980.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 5 of 37Young Mack, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, 1982.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 6 of 37The Observer, Times Square, 1982.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 7 of 37The Bowery Boys, Lower East Side, Manhattan, 1982.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 8 of 37Boys in the Hood, Flatbush, Brooklyn, 1982.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 9 of 37A Suspect is Apprehended after an Attempted Robbery, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, 1980.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 10 of 37The Salsa King Working His Magic with His Young Student, Coney Island, 1995.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 11 of 37Friends, Midtown Manhattan, 1990.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 12 of 37Street Photographers of Times Square Pose for a Photo during Some Down Time, Times Square, 1982.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 13 of 37Lawrence and Tee, East Flatbush,Brooklyn, 1982.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 14 of 37The Bus Stop, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, 1980.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 15 of 37The Market, Flatbush, Brooklyn, 1982.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 16 of 37Hare Krishnas Sharing Their Vibrations, Downtown Brooklyn, 1983.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 17 of 37Young Boys on the Move, Bushwick, Brooklyn, 1980s.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 18 of 37No Dogs Allowed, SoHo, 2004.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 19 of 37Another Side of Harlem, Harlem, 1997.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 20 of 37Lunch Break, Lower Manhattan, 1994.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 21 of 37When Two Worlds Meet, Jamaica, Queens, 1997.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 22 of 37Red on Red Love, Jamaica, Queens, 1998.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 23 of 37Thanks Mom, Washington Square Park, Manhattan, 1996.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 24 of 37Homeless in America, Midtown Manhattan, 1981.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 25 of 37The Musician, Midtown Manhattan, 1982.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 26 of 37Police Officers from the Truancy Unit Question a Student, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, 1980.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 27 of 37Black and Blue, Times Square, 1981.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 28 of 37The East Flatbush Crew, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, 1980.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 29 of 37Driving while Black, Times Square, 1982.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 30 of 37The Original Retro Kids at 106 and Park Avenue, East Harlem, 2010.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 31 of 37Saturday Night Live on the Deuce, Times Square, 1984.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 32 of 37The Legendary Street Photographer Louis Mendes, Midtown Manhattan, 1990.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 33 of 37The Entertainers, Midtown Manhattan, 1983.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 34 of 37Traffic, Flatbush, Brooklyn, 1980.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 35 of 37The World Trade Center, Lower Manhattan, 1982.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 36 of 37Ron and Hooker, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, 1981.Jamel Shabazz/Sights in the City, New York Photographs 37 of 37
Jamel Shabazz’s Most Iconic Images From The Streets Of New York View GalleryJamel Shabazz may have only been a 20-year-old when he started photographing New York City in the 1980s, but the Brooklyn-born artist captured the city in a way that nobody else seemed capable of.
His photographs now hang in the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Whitney Museum, and the Smithsonian. And his new book, Jamel Shabazz: Sights in the City, New York Photographs, adds even more to his reputation.
The book contains 120 photographs taken between the 1980s and the 2000s, in what The New York Times calls the "visual record of the 1980s, when he immortalized urban styles and attitudes ‘before rap made them large.’”
And as for the New York of today, “New York City has still maintained its vibrancy and constant flow of energy and magnetism that make it one of the greatest cities in the world,” Shabazz told Dazed Digital. “I honestly feel that if I had lived in any other borough outside of Brooklyn, I would not have been able to document such cultural diversity.”
While the city has kept its sheen, Shabazz says that the skyrocketing cost of living and technological shifts have changed who can live in the city -- and what life "looks" like for those who remain.
Folks are “disconnected and distracted like never before,” Shabazz said. “Back in the days, it was very possible to engage a person in a basic conversation. Today the majority of people are pretty much in their own private worlds, thus making the old school way of communication somewhat outdated.”
For more of Shabazz’s work, check out the 2013 documentary Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer, which chronicles his illustrious career as well as the photos in the gallery above, presented with their original captions.
Next, venture into the rough-and-tumble New York City streets of the 1970s and 1980s.
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