Vibrant Photos Capture Spirit Of 1980s New York City
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Jamel Shabazz first took up photography at the age of 15, and went on to create a peerlessly vibrant record of the city in the 1980s.
c. 1980. A boy does a backflip on a mattress in a lot in Brooklyn.
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
Drawing inspiration from the works of socially concerned photographers such as Gordon Parks and Leonard Freed, Shabazz roamed the streets and subways of New York, making both candid and effortlessly posed images of the city’s diverse denizens, especially black and Hispanic communities.
h/t: mashable
1980. A man strikes a pose in Brooklyn.
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
1980. A man poses with a boombox in Brooklyn.
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
1980
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1981. Lawrence and Tee pose on a sidewalk in Brooklyn.
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1982. Men pose on the Lower East Side.
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
1982. A man identified as Malik stands in front of posters in Harlem.
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
1988
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
1981
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
1980. Two friends on the 2 train.
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1982. Men on the Lower East Side.
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
1983. A portrait of a fellow photographer.
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
1983
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
1984. A father and son in downtown Brooklyn.
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1985. A Brooklyn man and his boombox.
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
1985. A man poses for a portrait in Brooklyn.
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c. 1985
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A group portrait in Brooklyn.
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
1986. A Brooklyn man poses for a portrait.
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1988. A model poses in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
1988. A man in downtown Brooklyn.
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1988. An off-duty police officer poses on his car on the Lower East Side.
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images
1988. A couple embrace in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.
Jamel Shabazz/Getty Images