1. Ricky Powell was an American photographer who documented popular culture including hip hop, punk rock, graffiti, and pop art.
20 Facts About Ricky Powell
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Ricky Powell's photographs 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, among other publications.
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Ricky Powell's photographs included candid portraits of artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Madonna, in addition to many other popular culture artists and other common people.
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Ricky Powell toured with American hip-hop group Beastie Boys photographing their performances and occasionally appearing in their videos.
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Ricky Powell's mother, Ruth Powell, was a school teacher and did not know who his father was.
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Ricky Powell grew up in Greenwich Village while spending two years between 1973 and 1975 living in the Upper West Side.
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Ricky Powell attended PS 41 with Rachael Horovitz, sister to Adam Horovitz, later known as Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys.
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Ricky Powell started out by selling Frozade in the streets of New York City after graduating from college.
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In 1986, Ricky Powell quit his job and tagged along with Beastie Boys on their Run-DMC's Raising Hell tour.
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Some photographs that he took while on tour became significant, and Ricky Powell gained fame, becoming the unofficial "fourth Beastie Boy".
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Ricky Powell maintained a positive relationship with the Beastie Boys, including photographing them for Interview magazine in 2011.
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Ricky Powell was the host of the public-access television show, Rappin' With the Rickster from 1990 to 1996.
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Ricky Powell became the face of New York City'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.
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Ricky Powell gave insights into the artistic phenomena of the day, with a combination of candid footage, impromptu interviews, and a vision of Powell's New York City.
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Ricky Powell considered the show "a time capsule of someone growing up in Manhattan during that era and being around the music scene".
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Frozade Moments: Classic Street Photography of Ricky Powell was a book of postcards consisting of candid snapshots of celebrities, local luminaries, and low-lifes that offer a view of New York City.
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Ricky Powell attempted to bring in a nostalgic feel to New York City with appearances from Zephyr, Charlie Ahearn, Glenn O'Brien, and Zoe Cassavetes.
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Ricky Powell was the central character in Ricky Powell: The Individualist, by Bill Adler, and Nemo Librizzi, who documented Powell's work as a street photographer capturing the intersection of popular culture movements including hip-hop, pop art, graffiti, and punk rock.
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Ricky Powell's works were featured both domestically and internationally in solo and group exhibitions.
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Ricky Powell considered the relationship between the photographer and the photograph to be "a chemical connection of some sort".