British-born photographer Janette Beckman began her career at the dawn of punk rock working for publications such as The Face and Melody Maker. She shot bands from The Clash to Boy George as well as three Police album covers and documented the youth culture of the era. Moving to NYC in 1983, Beckman was drawn to the underground hip-hop scene where she photographed the pioneers of the culture such as RUN DMC, Slick Rick, Salt-N-Pepa, Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J, and Big Daddy Kane. Beckman has published five books, including: ‘Rap, Portraits & Lyrics of a Generation of Black Rockers’ and ‘The MashUp, Hip Hop Photos Remixed by Iconic Graffiti Artists’. Her work has been shown in galleries and museums worldwide including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles and Kunsthal Rotterdam, amongst others. Beckman’s work is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, the Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe, France, and the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection, Japan. Beckman’s commercial work includes assignments for clients such as Apple, Dior, Levi’s, Schott, and Shinola.
