Photographic print of MC Shan, NYC: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white photograph of MC Shan sitting on a white counter top in front of a mirror.

The image captures from the counter up, the bottom of Shan's legs out of frame. His body is facing the proper right side of the image and he is looking at the camera, leaning his elbows on his proper right knee, which is bent and raised slightly. He is wearing a black sweatshirt with white text and black pants. The top of the sweatshirt is white with thin black horizontal stripes. A tiled wall and door is visible in the mirror behind him, along with a light or camera flash.

On the back of the print is an inscription handwritten by Bill Adler identifying the subject, location, date, and photographer.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: May 1990
• Photograph by: Al Pereira, American, born 1963
• Subject of: MC Shan, American, born 1965
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 13 7/8 × 10 15/16 in. (35.2 × 27.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 12 15/16 × 8 5/8 in. (32.9 × 21.9 cm)
• Place captured: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Rappers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2015.132.296
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• 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: © Al Pereira Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.