Debbie Harry, London 1981 - Janette Beckman

Stylin’ and Profilin’ by Janette Beckman

For the first time in Australia, a collection of iconic images which span music, street culture, hip hop, rock & roll and punk icons will be on show throughout the month of October in Sydney.

On Saturday October 10th 2009, Blender Gallery will be hosting a book signing with Janette Beckman.
Her two books ‘Made in the U.K.: The Music and Attitude, 1977-1982’ and ‘The Breaks: Stylin’ and Profilin’ 1982–1990′ are available for purchase at the gallery. Come and meet the photographer behind these classic images!

London native Janette Beckman has made her fame photographing not only a wide array of performers in several musical genres but also the youth subcultures that have cropped up around their music. Whether it’s capturing images of young punks and mods in ’70s London or the b-boys and -girls of New York’s hip-hop scene of the ’80s, her documentarian’s eye has captured the culture and the style of these groups.

Among her best-known photographs are the iconic front covers for the first two albums by the Police, along with portraits of artists from the Sex Pistols to Run-DMC and from Blondie to Lily Allen, among others.

Janette Beckman began her career at the dawn of Punk Rock working for The Face and Melody Maker, when British music pushed every boundary. She soon had extraordinary access to the musicians topping the U.K. charts– icons of an era when music had an agenda with such acts including The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Jam, The Undertones, The Specials, The Beat, The Ramones, The Rockats, Raincoats, Billy Idol and Echo and the Bunnymen.

Radically, this generation thought that the punks on the street were just as important as the bands, which fitted Beckman’s aesthetic. Her sharp eye for street style and pop culture led her to document two decades of youthful tribes: Punks, Mods, Skinheads, Rockabillies, B-boys and girls.
Beckman’s powerful portraits celebrating this music and the attitude are collected for the first time in ‘Made in the U.K.: The Music and Attitude, 1977-1982’ PowerHouse Books 2005.

© Janette Beckman

Moving to New York in 1982, she was instantly drawn to the underground Hip Hop scene. Her photographs of pioneers Africa Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Salt’n'Pepa, Run-DMC, Slick Rick, Beastie Boys and countless others, as well as the DJs, MCs, b-boys and fly girls are collected in ‘The Breaks: Stylin’ and Profilin’ 1982–1990′, PowerHouse Books 2007.Since moving to New York she has shot everyone from Kevin Bacon to Lily Allen – Clients include: Hello, People, Interview, Mojo, Glamour, Esquire, Rolling Stone,   London Sunday Times Magazine. Warner Brothers Music, Universal Music, Sony, Doc Marten, Converse etc.

Run DMC, Queens NYC 1984 - Janette Beckman

Her photographs have recently been exhibited galleries and museums around the world including Paul Smith London, Isetan Tokyo, Collette Paris, Flair Los Angeles, Morrison Hotel NYC, Kong Gallery Shanghai, Rockarchive London and now Blender Gallery in Sydney.
Her work is collected by patrons including: Kate Moss, Paul Smith, Susan Sarandon, Adrian Brody, Carson Daly, Craig McDean, Lyor Cohen (CEO Warner Music Group).
Beckman’s work has appeared in Esquire, Rolling Stone, the Observer and Glamour, to name a few.
She lives and works in New York.

Reproduced courtesy of Tali Udovich, Director of Blender Gallery

Exhibition Launch with Janette Beckman: Thursday 8th October 2009 6pm-8pm

Book Signing: Saturday 10th October 2009

Exhibition runs from Friday 9th October until Tuesday 3rd November 2009

Blender Gallery, 16 Elizabeth Street Paddington

Gallery hours: Tuesday–Saturday: 10am – 6pm.

Gallery Invite

By the way, Blender Gallery is also home to The Just Shoot Lomography Shop for all your Lomo and Holga needs. So put an afternoon aside and pop on over to Blender for a nice hit of photography.