Ernie Paniccioli started photographing Hip Hop culture in the mid 1970s. His initial focus was aerosol art. He also documented other aspects of Hip Hop culture including MCing (rapping), B-Boying (Break Dancing), DJing, and fashion.

Paniccioli holds a unique place amoung aerosol art photographers. While many photographers focused primarly on the paintings done on the subway, Paniccioli ventured directly into the communities that gave birth to Hip Hop. Traditionaly many aerosol artists first tested their skills by painting on walls before subway cars. Paniccioli documented work by many artists in their transitional phases; as well as many other talented artists that did not make the step to subway painting.

Paniccioli probably has the most comprehensive collection of works by 1980’s New York City “Street Writers” in the world. His commitment to documenting Hip Hop led to a position as Chief Photographer with Word Up! magazine at its launch in 1987. His work has ben published in The New York Times, Life Magazine, Time, Vibe, Rolling Stone, The Source and many other publications. His photographs have been displayed at The Brooklyn Museum of Art and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has photographed countless Hip Hop icons including Public Enemy, and the late Big Pun (christopher Rios).

Paniccioli’s work appears in the Harper Collins book titled Who Shot Ya?

Information courtesy of @149st.

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The Maysles Institute will have a showing of The Other Side of Hip-Hop: The Sixth Element, a documentary on the life, politics and photography of  Ernie Paniccioli this coming Wednesday, May 5th, at 7:30 pm in New York City. Brother Ernie will be on hand for a Q&A session, which should pretty much be worth the price of admission in and of itself.

Tickets can be purchased here.

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Legendary American photographer and author of hip hop culture Ernie Paniccioli is coming to Liverpool to raise the curtain on a series of events on the night preceding the opening of Liverpool Sound City.

Ernie will launch a major photographic exhibition of his work at FACT gallery in Liverpool on 18th May, which will run for a month.

He will also partake in an exclusive Q&A at the opening event along with his friend and one of the original legends of hip hop, Afrika Bambaataa.

More info here.

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The incomparable Ernie Paniccioli* has been sharing some really rare and unseen (and great) hip-hop shots on his Facebook page. Which is a pretty good reason to send him a friend request, and an even better reason to cop one of his books from his Lulu page.

*And we’re not just saying that because we can’t come up with a better adjective. Really. Ernie’s about as one-of-a-kind as it gets.

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