Latin Connection: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a color archival pigment print from the negative. The photograph depicts a full-length image of two young men posed under scaffolding on the edge of a sidewalk, one on the left standing and one on the right sitting on a metal bar. The young man on the left has his arms crossed at his upper chest while holding a red bag. He is dressed in a white button shirt, white pants, a red military belt, and white low-top Adidas and fat red laces. For accessories he has a black watch on his proper right wrist and a cap in the style of a Kangol Ventair. The young man on the right is half sitting on a metal bar, with his proper right leg extending vertically and his proper left leg on the bar, but his upper body turned to face the camera. His hands are waving openly, similar to a “jazz hands” motion. He is dressed in an all-red attire: track suit bottoms and a sweater with a black turtleneck underneath. His black shoes resemble Clark Wallabees. For accessories he wears a gold-colored necklace and a ring on his proper left ring finger. They are posed against a stone building.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1982; printed 2021
• Photograph by: Jamel Shabazz, American, born 1960
• Subject of: Unidentified Man or Men
• Type: pigment prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: pigment-based ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 14 × 11 in. (35.6 × 27.9 cm)
• Place depicted: Brooklyn, New York City, Kings County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Cultural Place: Latin America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Identity
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Urban life
• Object number: 2021.69.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Jamel Shabazz
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Jamel Shabazz Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.