Covering 40 years of NYC history spanning 150 photos, the BronxMuseum's new exhibit 'Jamel Shabazz: Eyes on the Street' is filled with an abundance of Black joy. 'I realized I need to balance this out, and I need to look for joy and love,' Shabazz says.
Jamel Shabazz, courtesy of Bronx Museum of the Arts
It’s a man holding a protest sign — and it’s striking because it’s so unlike most of Shabazz’s images. You can’t can’t see the subject’s face or most of his clothes, two visual signatures of nearly all the artist's images. But there is a hint of what’s to come: a pair of blue-and-pink plaid pants are visible, and match the lettering on the placard, which reads: “Racism destroys the intellect of Black and white alike.
“He pushed me to have a balance," Shabazz explained. "And he never mentioned the idea of joy to me before — I think subconsciously I realized I need to balance this out, and I need to look for joy and love.” That time traveling is present in the many photos of young men and women sporting Kangol hats, a boy doing backflips on an old mattress and graffiti writers outside a subway station.
There are also snapshots Shabazz took of his co-workers. And he did a stint working security at a men’s shelter on Ward’s Island, which led to one of the most quiet and lovely photos in the exhibit. A man is lying in bed by an open window on a summer day, with his head upright, half smiling, with a cigarette in his hand.
The exhibit also provides a peek into Shabazz’s working process. Glass display cases are full of his personal items. There’s a Contax G2 camera, one of his trusty war horses. There’s also a slim photo album, which he used to carry around with him as a way of introducing himself to his subjects.
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