British-born photographer Janette Beckman began her career at the dawn of punk rock working for publications such as The Face and Melody Maker. She shot bands from The Clash to Boy George as well as three Police album covers and documented the youth culture of the era. Moving to NYC in 1983, Beckman was drawn to the underground hip-hop scene where she photographed the pioneers of the culture such as RUN DMC, Slick Rick, Salt-N-Pepa, Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J, and Big Daddy Kane. Beckman has published five books: ‘Rap, Portraits & Lyrics of a Generation of Black Rockers’, ‘Made In The UK The Music of Attitude 1977-1983’, ‘The Breaks, Stylin’ and Profilin’ 1982- 1990′, ‘El Hoyo Maravilla’ and ‘The MashUp, Hip Hop Photos Remixed by Iconic Graffiti Artists’. Her work has been shown in galleries and museums worldwide including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles and Kunsthal Rotterdam, amongst others. 

In 1980 I went to photograph Paul Weller (of the The Jam) meeting his hero, Pete Townshend (of The Who) for the first time, for Melody Maker Magazine. We arranged to meet on Wardour Street in London outside the famous Marquee Club. 

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“In 1984, the British style magazine The Face asked me to photograph the up-and-coming rap group called Run-DMC. In a time before cell phones and emails, I called the contact phone number they gave me (Jam Master Jay's home), and Jay arranged to meet me at the Hollis, Queens subway stop.

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"I spent the summer of 1983 driving out to a dusty park in East LA to document the El Hoyo Maravilla gang. I brought some of my photos of the London punk, skinhead scene to show them, explaining these were kind of like the 'gangs' in the UK. 
The area was poor, hot and arid, and there was the constant sound of LAPD helicopters buzzing overhead. The gang members introduced me to their families and showed me the barrio. 

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"Shane MacGowan was infamous. He'd been 'drunk and bloodied' in virtually every pub in London worth mentioning. He was in a punk group called 'The Nipple Erectors' at the time. I got an assignment from Melody Maker to photograph him.