MED 015/16/17 | Henry Chalfant

As a teenager obsessed with early '80s New York graffiti and breakdancing, I’d watch the youth club boys throw down scraps of linoleum at the local precinct, trying to replicate Crazy Legs head spins in impromptu dance battles.

In 1984 and ‘87, photographer and filmmaker Henry Chalfant published his work documenting the scene from the 70s onwards in Subway Art and Spraycan Art…obviously, I snapped up both.

A bored teenager in Crewe, I wrote to Henry in this magical New York place where people did proper head spins and spray-painted Subway trains — and to my continued amazement, he actually wrote back to me in December 1988…

More in the latest MED newsletter, including the full-circle moment that recently wrapped up the story. Link below.

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Also…
There’s a Spotify playlist for MED because almost every item in the archive has a soundtrack. I’ll post a link soon, am currently shuffling my way through Afrika Bambaataa and The Sugarhill Gang.

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MED 015 Letter from Henry Chalfant, 1988
MED 016 Subway Art, Martha Cooper & Henry Chalfant, 1988 (the first edition was 1984)
MED 017 Spraycan Art, Henry Chalfont & James Prigoff, 1987

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