You Shall Know Us By Our Puffy Jackets
Music photographer Janette Beckman got her start shooting London's punk scene right about the time the Sex Pistols were breaking up ('79, for those of you scoring at home). Three years later, she arrived in New York City, smack dab in the midst of hip hop's first wave. Whether it was dumb luck or a nose for emerging subcultures about to break big, she somehow landed the gig as house album-cover shutterbug for the emerging genre. In other words, she shot everybody from Eric B. and Rakim to Kurtis Blow to the Fearless Four (made up of six people, actually). Hell, she even photographed Rick Rubin when he was thin and, uh, handsome (above). Now you can celebrate all this O.G. glory with her glossy coffee table book called The Breaks: Stylin' and Profiln' 1982-1990, out this week from Powerhouse Books. And just because every guy in Williamsburg now looks like Rubin did in this 1985 portrait doesn't mean it wasn't an original look at the time.
P.S. The fact that the last 2 posts I've done feature young men pointing guns is completely coincidental and in no way advocates the use of firearms or adolescent recklessness.I just thought it was pretty cool shot of Rick Rubin.
