Ricky Powell

Ricky Powell
Powell at the opening of Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop in New York City, Jan. 2020
Born	(1961-11-20)November 20, 1961 New York City U.S.
Died	February 1, 2021(2021-02-01) (aged 59)
Nationality	American
Occupation	Photographer
Years active	1985-2021

File:Rickypowell blog.jpg

Powell captured the classic Run DMC photograph in Paris 1986

Powell (center) with two of the three Beastie Boys, MCA (left) and Mike D (right)

Ricky Powell (November 20, 1961 – February 1, 2021) was an American photographer. The author of four books, he specialized in the environmental portrait. Though Powell initially rose to fame because of his relationship with the Beastie Boys, he is now well known for his intimate photographs that have been featured in The New York Times, the New York Post, the Daily News, The Village Voice, TIME, Newsweek, VIBE, The Source, Rolling Stone, and many other publications.

Early life and education

Powell was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City. He grew up in Greenwich Village and lived there until his death. He also spent two years in 1973-1975 for his 7th and 8th grade years living in the Upper West Side. Powell attended PS41 with Rachael Horovitz, sister to Adam Horovitz, later known as Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys..

Powell graduated with an AA in Liberal Arts from LaGuardia Community College and a B.S. in Physical Education from Hunter College.

Career

Powell originally saw photography as a hobby; taking pictures of family and friends at random. But in 1985, when a girlfriend "played [Powell] like a soggy cannoli", as he described in an interview with The New Yorker, he took the camera she had left at his place and vowed that "She would be mad sorry she dissed [him] like this".

Beastie Boys

In 1986, Powell ditched his job selling lemon ices out of a street car to tag along with the Beastie Boys on Run-DMC's Raising Hell tour. Some of the photographs that he took while on tour became significant, and Powell gained notoriety, becoming the unofficial "fourth Beastie Boy". He toured with the group as Def Jam Records' de facto in-house photographer on their Licensed to Ill tour in 1987 and Together Forever: Greatest Hits 1983–1991 tour with Run DMC and then again in 1992 on their Check Your Head tour and the 1994 Lollapalooza. Powell is famous for being featured in the song "Car Thief" on the Paul's Boutique album, with the lyrics: "Homeboy throw in the towel, Your girl got dicked by Ricky Powell."

Powell maintained a positive relationship with the Beastie Boys, most recently photographing them for Interview magazine.

Death

Powell died on February 1, 2021 from heart failure.

Rappin With the Rickster

The original Rappin' With the Rickster aired from 1990–1996, as Powell interviewed numerous stars on the show including: Russell Simmons, Doug E Fresh, Harold Hunter, Kool Keith, Rahzel, Laurence Fishburne, and Cypress Hill.

With his Public-access television show, Powell became the face of New York's downtown party scene, connected to both musical and visual artists such as Sonic Youth, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Russell Simmons, Harold Hunter, Dondi White, and Sofia Coppola.

Rappin' With the Rickster often has been called the world's hippest-ever public access TV show, as Powell gave insight into the artistic phenomena of the day, with an excess of candid footage, impromptu interviews, and a vision of Powell's New York. Powell considered the show "a time capsule of someone growing up in Manhattan during that era and being around the music scene".

A DVD of Rappin' With the Rickster, released in 2010, was declared a must-have by Juxtapoz.

Books

Released in 1998, Oh Snap!: The Rap Photography of Ricky Powell featured 88 photos, 53 of which were in full color. Powell's first book, Oh Snap! was a ten-year retrospective of some of the best known rap and hip hop artists of all time, including old school rappers Public Enemy, Run DMC and LL Cool J to some of the biggest stars of the day.

The Rickford Files: Classic New York Photographs was Powell's second work, featuring what he considered "the real New York", beyond the tourist glaze of Times Square and the deteriorating Greenwich Village.

Frozade Moments: Classic Street Photography of Ricky Powell is a book of postcards consisting of candid snapshots of celebrities, local luminaries, and lowlifes that offer a view of New York City. The celebrities include Madonna, Jam Master Jay, KRS-One, Frankie Crocker, Andy Warhol and Flavor Flav.

With Public Access: Ricky Powell Photographs 1985-2005, Powell celebrated two decades of capturing moments in his signature style, documenting much of the early era of hip-hop and presenting the actors, musicians, performers, and artists that inspired him, including Method Man, Doze Green, Bill Adler, Slick Rick, Run DMC, Eric B & Rakim, Keith Haring, Steven Tyler, Barbara Walters, Cindy Crawford, Eazy-E, and Fab Five Freddy. These photographs are distributed amongst graffiti splattered renderings by Lee Quiñones, Ron Galella, Ron English, and others. Powell depicts a nostalgia for New York's back-in-the-day with universal downtown cool with sentiments from Zephyr, Charlie Ahearn, Glenn O'Brien, and Zoe Cassavetes.

The Individualist, Created by Thomas Radvany words by Bill Adler, Nemo Librizzi (2018): Capturing the intersection of the birth of hip-hop, punk rock, graffiti, pop art, fashion and underground culture, The Individualist shows the world through the lens of one of New York City's most prolific street photographers, Ricky Powell. Featuring dozens of never-before-seen photos, it includes portraits of the Beastie Boys, RUN DMC, LL Cool J, Andy Warhol, Basquiat, Keith Haring and hundreds more, all alongside ordinary people. In the words of Powell's colleague Bill Adler, Consider the astonishing range and mix of people captured by Ricky: musicians, actors, artists, comedians, athletes and homeless folks. Boldface names and everyday people. ... And, not infrequently, Mr. Ricky Powell himself, well before the age of the selfie. His portfolio embraces humans of every race, gender and age, all of them drawn to New York, NY because it has always been and remains the world capital of individualism; a city of maximum freedom and opportunity, equal parts glamour and grit.

Documentary

Ricky Powell: The Individualist (2020): "Ricky Powell boasts a quintessential New York story, rising to fame as a street photographer in the 80's and 90's and touring with the Beastie Boys, capturing some of the wildest moments in popular culture". Directed by Josh Swade. Written by Christopher McGlynn and Josh Swade.

Exhibitions

Powell's "Frozade Moments, 1985-2003," ran at Bill Adler's Eyejammie Fine Arts Gallery in New York from July through September 2003.

Powell's "Public Access: Ricky Powell Photographs 1985-2005" exhibition was featured at the colette in Paris, the powerHouse Gallery in New York, Milk Bar in San Francisco, and Lab 101 Gallery in Los Angeles.

Powell exhibited both his photographs and his signature street style at BRAVE Art, Whistler in 2006.

The Ricky Powell Art Funk Explosion! was Presented by Frank151 at Sacred Gallery NYC from December 9–28, 2010, and celebrated Powell's guest curation of Frank Chapter 43: Bug Out!, which highlights his photographs and interviews with renowned street artists.

Powell's World-famous Slideshow at All Tomorrow's Parties was highlighted by Billboard.

Philosophy

Powell's photographs focus on New Yorkers. Powell considered the relationship between the photographer and the photograph to be "a chemical connection of some sort". As the intrinsic qualities of the photograph changed after Powell began capturing moments, so did the subjects; later in life, he was more likely to "photograph strangers in his Greenwich Village neighborhood than multi platinum hip-hop acts and Downtown art stars".