MAASTRICHT.- Fotomuseum aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht, the Netherlands, presents the exhibition 'Streetlife' from 1 June until 27 September 2020. The museum shows colorful work by the American photographer Jamel Shabazz and black and white portraits by Dutch photographer Hans Rietveld. The street photography mostly shows the 60s, 70s and 80s. A new photo book by Shabazz will be launched during the exhibition.
Jamel Shabazz enjoys international fame as a documentary, street, fashion and portrait photographer. He has been photographing the vibrant street life in New York City since 1980. In addition to musicians, he has also portrayed everyday life on the street and in the subway. Around fifty photos can be seen in the monumental museum. The exhibition 'Streetlife' focusses on his photography from the 1980s. Visitors can play music matching with the era on record players themselves. The guest curator of the exhibition is the German gallery owner Bene Taschen.
Thirty black and white photos by Hans Rietveld are presented in the exhibition. He captured street life with his camera; in his beloved city of Maastricht, Paris or wherever he was. Rietveld always photographed people in seemingly normal circumstances. The nostalgic images are mainly from the period 1965-1975.
Jamel Shabazz (New York, 1960) grew up in Brooklyn and has been active as a photographer for 45 years. His iconic photos have been frequently published and bundled in nine monographs. In addition, the autonomous work is included in the collections of museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), The Bronx Museum of the Arts (New York) and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture (Washington). Shabazz has been awarded a Gordon Parks Foundation Award in 2018.
Hans Rietveld (The Hague, 1942) followed a graphic education at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht where he has lived since 1970. He combined his work as a graphic artist with photography and had a great interest and curiosity in people. Johan van der Keuken and Ed van der Elsken were important contemporaries and inspirers for the photographer.