An intimate look at downtown life in the 1980s through Powell’s lens.
Capturing Street Life
Ricky Powell began photographing New York in the mid-1980s after a breakup left him restless. Borrowing a camera from an ex, he wandered Washington Square Park, SoHo and the Lower East Side, turning casual afternoons into a lifelong practice of documenting the city’s neighborhoods, friends, and daily moments.
Icons Among Peers
Long before his famous portraits of the Beastie Boys and hip-hop legends, Powell photographed cultural figures like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Futura 2000 as peers, blending them seamlessly into the streets, storefronts and graffiti of the city around him.
Exhibition Details
The show RICKY POWELL: NEW YORK PHOTOGRAPHS 1980–1990 is on view at Whaam! through October 17, 2025, offering a rare glimpse into a New York that no longer exists.
