Shabba Ranks: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

The image has been captured in studio, against a white background. Shabba Ranks stands in the center, pictured from the hips up. He wears a button down shirt with a print of clockfaces and chains print over a white mesh shirt. He has a large chain around his neck and has his proper left hand held out with the first two fingers raised in a peace sign gesture. He is looking directly at the camera. Just beneath the image in the bottom right corner is the photographer's signature [David Corio]. On the verso is an inscription in graphite reading [SHABBA RANKS / LONDON / 1 OCTOBER 1990] followed by the photographer's copyright stamp in black ink and the photographer's signature in graphite. Beneath this is a stamp in black ink resembling two frames of a film strip. In the left frame is written [1/30] and in the right [PRINTED 2004], both in graphite.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: October 1, 1990; printed 2004
• Photograph by: David Corio, English, born 1960
• Subject of: Shabba Ranks, Jamaican, born 1966
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 14 × 11 in. (35.5 × 27.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 9 15/16 × 9 13/16 in. (25.2 × 25 cm)
• Place captured: London, England, Europe
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Dancehall (Music)
• Topic: Gesture
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Photography
• Object number: 2015.132.200
• 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: © David Corio Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.