Bid on this unique photographic print from Henry Chalfant's iconic Subway Graffiti Series, a panoramic image of New York City's subway system captured between 1977 and 1980 — signed by the artist in pencil on the verso. What makes this piece especially rare is its selection by celebrated graffiti artist Mare139 for inclusion in a custom curated collection in 2011, lending it a singular place within the canon of hip-hop visual culture.
Henry Chalfant (b. 1940) is one of the most important documentarians of urban culture in American history. His lens captured the golden era of New York City subway graffiti at its most raw and vital, producing images that now reside in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Carnegie Institute.
Chalfant co-authored Subway Art — widely considered the definitive text on graffiti as an art form — and co-produced the landmark 1983 documentary Style Wars, which introduced the world to hip-hop culture's visual language. This print is classified as a unique edition, meaning no identical version of this work exists. Its panoramic format — dramatically wide relative to its height — mirrors the sweep of the subway cars Chalfant so masterfully documented, making it as visually arresting as it is historically significant.
For collectors of photography, street art, or American cultural history, this is a rare opportunity to own a piece of New York City's artistic legacy, authenticated by the hand of the man who helped preserve it.
Henry Chalfant Subway Graffiti Series 4

THE BDC USES COMMUNITY-BASED DOCUMENTARY PRACTICE AND EDUCATION TO EXPLORE VITAL ISSUES, STIMULATE CRITICAL THOUGHT, AND DRIVE SOCIAL CHANGE.
Learn more100% of the Net Proceeds (as defined in our Terms and FAQs) of the Hammer Price will go to a donor-advised fund (“DAF”) administered by Our Change Foundation, a third-party charitable entity contracted by Charitybuzz, which will then grant the funds, less fees, to The Bronx Documentary Center.