During the birth of hip hop and street culture as we know it now, Powell was the in-house photographer for Def Jam Records and worked with artists such as Run DMC, The Beasties and LL Cool J.
To describe the photography of Ricky Powell (born 1961) as iconic is no exaggeration. Besides his work with the Beastie Boys, Powell shot dozens of celebrities during the 80s in New York – images that have now become part of the collective consciousness of pop culture.
Ricky Powell was in Europe to promote his collaboration with sneaker brand PONY. PONY and Powell put together – under the ’Dog Walker’ theme – a limited edition of the ‘Vintage Slam Dunk sneaker from 1982.
The Vintage Slamdunks, designed by Ricky Powell, are animal-friendly heavily treated canvas shoes.
As a vegetarian, Ricky wanted to explore how the shoes could be robust and explored heavily waxed canvases to provide the durability of leather without the use of skins.
The New York sneaker brand was an icon in the ‘70s and ‘80s and adorned the feet of well-known athletes such as Mohammed Ali, David Thompson, Reggie Jackson, and Pele.
The brand somewhat receded from the spotlight since its heyday, but now PONY is back with its original appetite for success.
Further information on this and related projects at pony-europe.com