Bid now on this unique photographic print from the Subway Graffiti Series by Henry Chalfant — a rare, signed original capturing New York City's subway culture at its most raw and transformative, taken between 1977 and 1980. Adding to its distinction, this print was personally selected by celebrated graffiti artist Mare139 for inclusion in a custom curated collection in 2011.

Henry Chalfant (b. 1940) is one of the most important documentarians of urban culture in American history. His photographs of New York City subway graffiti and breakdancing helped bring hip hop culture to global audiences, and his work is held in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh.

He co-authored Subway Art — widely considered the definitive text on New York graffiti — as well as its follow-up, Spraycan Art, and co-produced the landmark 1983 documentary Style Wars, which first aired on PBS in 1984. This panoramic print — measuring 6.5 inches tall by 30.5 inches wide — captures the energy and artistry of an era that forever changed the cultural landscape of New York and the world. Signed by Chalfant in pencil on the verso, it is a one-of-a-kind work: a unique print, not part of a numbered edition.

For collectors of photography, street art history, or New York City culture, this is a singular opportunity to own a piece of the moment that started it all.

Henry Chalfant Subway Graffiti Series 5

About the charity
The Bronx Documentary Center
The Bronx Documentary Center

THE BDC USES COMMUNITY-BASED DOCUMENTARY PRACTICE AND EDUCATION TO EXPLORE VITAL ISSUES, STIMULATE CRITICAL THOUGHT, AND DRIVE SOCIAL CHANGE.

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100% 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.

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