Training Days, a new book by Henry Chalfant & Sacha Jenkins

Read the stories behind the iconic images in Subway Art in the words of the pioneers of the graffiti movement in the late 1970s – early 1980s in the new book “Training Days: The Subway Artists Then and Now” by Henry Chalfant and Sacha Jenkins. The book will be released by Thames & Hudson in October 2014 but is already available for pre-order at Amazon.com at only $13.96 (list price: $19.95). Late 1970s New York City was bankrupt and its streets dirty and dangerous. But thecity had a wild, raw energy that made it the crucible for the birth of rap culture and graffiti. Graffiti writers worked in extremely tough conditions: uncollected garbage, darkness, cramped spaces, and the constant threat of police raids, assault by security staff and attacks by rival crews. It was not unlike practicing performance art in a war zone. Yet during the fertile years of the late 1970s and 1980s they evolved their art from stylized signatures to full-blown Technicolor dreamscapes. Henry Chalfant created panoramic images of painted trains by photographing overlapping shots along the train’s length. It took time to earn the writers’ trust andrespect, but Chalfant became their revered confidant and with Tony Silver went on to produce the classic documentary film Style Wars (1983). Through a series of interviews conducted by Sacha Jenkins, we hear the voices of these characters of old New York. Quite a few of the original writers are no longer with us, but those who have survived have continued to push the envelope as artists and individuals in a new millennium.The stories they tell, included here alongside iconic, raw photographs of their work, will enthrall graffiti fans everywhere. 100 illustrations in color and black-and-white To be released October 2014, pre-order at Amazon: Training Days: The Subway Artists Then and Now

Buy the book here: WWW.UNFADE.COM

Product Details Hardcover: 176 pages Publisher: Thames & Hudson; 1 edition (October 14, 2014) Language: English ISBN-10: 0500239215 ISBN-13: 978-0500239216 Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches