Cypher

Amazon.com Price: $31.87 (as of 09/11/2019 13:35 PST- Details)

Hardcover
8.25 x 10.25 inches
136 pages

Description

Acclaimed rock photographer Charles Peterson is back with a new subject—the world of up to date breakdancing. B-boying, as it’s referred to by its adepts, centers around the “cypher” (circle) created when b-boys and b-girls gather to practice or to “battle.” Bigger and badder than ever, breakdancing has grown since its beginnings in the 1970s to turn into a global youth phenomenon today. Yet it remains a highly individualized practice—all one needs to get down are some beats and a smooth floor (and, of course, scads of strength, style, and brio). 

With Cypher, Peterson takes a fresh look at this phenomenon with his own brand of fine-art documentation: part Larry Fink, part Barbara Morgan, with a heaping dose of the spirit that defined his previous powerHouse monograph, Touch Me I’m Sick. He focuses not only on one of the vital most radical performances by today’s most talented breakers, but also on the fans, the sidelines, and the camaraderie of the crews as a way to put you inside the world of the b-boy. 

Taken primarily with cumbersome medium-format cameras, the photographs have the depth and resolution generally associated with high-end fashion and portrait photography— even when the subjects are caught spontaneously in mid-air! In spite of the awkwardness of the method, the photos still have the entire buzz and excitement found in Peterson’s iconic images of the grunge movement, with an added twist of unexpected elegance. 

Cypher used to be shot over a period of six years, primarily in Peterson’s hometown of Seattle, in addition to at major events over the previous couple of years in Los Angeles, New York City, and Portland, Oregon.
Hardcover
8.25 x 10.25 inches
136 pages
84 duotone photographs


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