Ricky Powell, 59, Dies; Chronicled Early Hip-Hop and Downtown New York
Prolific with his point-and-shoot camera, he captured essential images of the Beastie Boys, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Run-DMC, Andy Warhol and more.
The photographer Ricky Powell in 2012. An inveterate walker, he pounded the New York pavement with his camera and snapped photos of whatever caught his fancy.Credit.Janette Beckman
Published Feb. 2, 2021Updated Feb. 7, 2021
Ricky Powell, the downtown New York Zelig who with his point-and-shoot camera documented the early years of hip-hop’s ascendance as well as a host of other subcultural scenes and the celebrities and fringe characters who populated the city, was found dead on Feb. 1 in his West Village apartment. He was 59.
Ricky Powell, well-known photographer, author and honorary fourth member of the Beastie Boys, has died.
According to a report from Page Six on Monday (Feb. 1), which is when the news of Powell s passing broke, he was 59 years old. The cause of death hasn t been revealed.
The story of Powell becoming the rap crew s famed photographer started back in 1986, when the master behind the camera lens ditched a job selling lemon ices to roll with the Beastie Boys on Run-DMC s Hell Raising Tour. Some of the photos the New York City native took became famous, later making him Def Jam s in-house photographer while on the road with the Beastie Boys.