Martha Cooper

Henry Chalfant

Two gifted photographers have documented every aspect of this extraordinary urban subculture, complete with 239 full-color photographs.

Subway Art

Sacha Jenkins

Authentic first–person accounts from the graffiti artists whose creative genius fueled the movement from its beginning in late 1970s and early 1980s New York Late 1970s New York City was bankrupt and its streets dirty and dangerous. But thecity had a wild, raw energy that made it the crucible for the birth of rap culture and graffiti. Graffiti writers worked in extremely tough conditions: uncollected garbage, darkness, cramped spaces, and the constant threat of police raids, assault by security staff and attacks by rival crews. It was not unlike practicing performance art in a war zone. Yet during the fertile years of the late 1970s and 1980s they evolved their art from stylized signatures to full-blown Technicolor dreamscapes. Henry Chalfant created panoramic images of painted trains by photographing overlapping shots along the train’s length. It took time to earn the writers’ trust andrespect, but Chalfant became their revered confidant and with Tony Silver went on to produce the classic documentary film Style Wars (1983). Through a series of interviews conducted by Sacha Jenkins, we hear the voices of these characters of old New York. Quite a few of the original writers are no longer with us, but those who have survived have continued to push the envelope as artists and individuals in a new millennium.The stories they tell, included here alongside iconic, raw photographs of their work, will enthrall graffiti fans everywhere.

The Subway Artists Then And Now

Training Days

During the 1970s and 80s, photographers Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant captured the environment and the imagination of a generation by documenting the burgeoning New York City graffiti movement. Now 25 years and more than a half a million copies later, their bestselling book Subway Art is available in a large-scale, deluxe format heightening the visual impact of their classic images. With 70 additional photographs, and a fresh introduction and afterword, this collector's edition illustrates the passion, creativity and resourcefulness of unlikely kids inventing an art form destined to spread worldwide and spawn the present-day street art movement.

25th Anniversary Edition

“Many of the images are today iconic masterpieces. . . . One of the most influential art books of its time.” —The Big Issue In 1984 the groundbreaking Subway Art brought graffiti to the world, presenting stunning photographic documentation of the burgeoning movement in New York. Thirty years later, this bible of street art has been updated with over seventy photographs not included in the original edition and new insights on an incredibly rich period for urban art and its legacy. In new introductions, authors Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant recall how they gained entry into the New York City graffiti community in the 1970s and 1980s. New afterwords continue the story, tracing the decline of the subway and graffiti scene in the late 1980s to its unexpected rebirth as a global art movement. The authors reveal how the lives of the original subway artists have unfolded and mourn the loss of several to the darker forces of the street.

Spraycan Art

The story of the birth of the subway graffiti movement in New York in the words of twelve writers, whose creativity fuelled the flowering of the movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s, capturing all the raw, explosive creativity of that era. Henry Chalfant's photographs in Subway Art inspired budding graffiti writers around the world; now read the stories behind those iconic images in the words of the pioneers of the graffiti movement. In the late 1970s, New York City was bankrupt, dirty and dangerous. Born on these grimy streets, graffiti rapidly made its mark. Here, the graffiti writers give first-person accounts of their experiences. Individually interviewed for this book, they reveal an authentic, unparalleled insight into the golden age of graffiti. Henry Chalfant is the author of the most successful book on graffiti ever published, 'Subway Art', also published by Thames & Hudson.

Henry Chalfant

Books

Your next favorite book is out there