Portrait of Public Enemy: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white photograph of Public Enemy. The photograph features, from left to right, Terminator X, Flavor Flav, Chuck D, and Professor Griff. Flavor Flav and Chuck D both hold microphones near the foreground of the photograph. Terminator X stands behind turn tables in the background. Flavor Flav and Chuck D have microphones up near their faces. Professor Griff stands crossing his arms in the foreground. The back of the photograph has several Jack Mitchell stamps at center, caption information in the lower right, a photographer's note in the bottom and the number [4174] in the bottom left.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1987
• Photograph by: Jack Mitchell, American, 1925 - 2013
• Subject of: Public Enemy, American, founded 1982
• Subject of: Terminator X, American, born 1966
• Subject of: Flavor Flav, American, born 1959
• Subject of: Chuck D, American, born 1960
• Subject of: Professor Griff, American, born 1960
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Rappers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2016.83.10
• 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: © Jack Mitchell, All Rights Reserved Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.