I´m not specifically involved with the event in front of me. I`m involved with what it looks like, what it feels like, what it smells like, what it offers to me and how it makes me feel. And through those feelings of the experience, I make the photograph. (Larry Fink, März 2021) Larry Fink, who died in 2023, worked as a photographer for over 65 years. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum in New York, among other prestigious institutions, and his archives was acquired by MUUS Collection in 2024. Until April 13, 2025, the Sarasota Art Museum in Florida is presenting a comprehensive exhibition featuring the work of Larry Fink as well as that of sculptor Martha Posner, who was his partner for over 30 years. Meanwhile, the Bene Taschen Gallery is pleased to present a selection from his series Social Graces, Somewhere There's Music, The Vanities, and Boxing under the title Larry Fink – Feeling the Experience from March 16. Fink gained his first photographic experience in New York, later moving from Brooklyn to Pennsylvania. He attended the New York New School for Social Research, which awakened his interest in sociological perspectives. His references to jazz music also have an early origin. Jazz accompanied him since his early childhood. He himself played the piano and harmonica. The pictures from the series Somewhere There's Music bear witness to the encounters between photographer and musicians. Jazz legends such as John Coltrane and Fink's great idol Jimmy Rushing, whom he met back in 1957, stood in front of his camera. From the end of the 1980s, he photographed the international boxing industry and covered Mike Tyson and Jimmy Jacobs, among others. His series Boxing shows many iconic moments from legendary boxing matches. Fink has always explored socio-psychological and political themes, capturing the relationships, frictions, and developments between the working class and the upper class. As an invited guest or official photographer, he documented social elites at parties and galas in The Vanities, always positioning himself as a silent observer, outside the action. In sometimes intimate moments, he captured the interactions of the guests–sometimes a glance over the shoulder–sometimes a smile or an unposed gesture. In Social Graces, these works are juxtaposed with photographs of the Sabatine family from Pennsylvania. During a visit to small-town Martins Creek, he documented family gatherings on various occasions, such as an eighth birthday. His photographic work covered a broad and contrasting spectrum, ranging from everyday family scenes to elite events. Fink thus created an image of society that connected different social groups without prejudice. His life's work is also a mirror of his image of society. For him, the focus was always on people. Most important thing or perhaps a very important thing is that my parents were very supporter of the arts, they were very much left wing family. So they think what I do photographically would be situated with social concerns. But jet at the same time with the deeper concerns of beauty. (Larry Fink, März 2021)

Galerie Bene Taschen is pleased to announce HIP HOP – Living a Dream, an immersive exhibition showcasing the works of renowned photographers Jamel Shabazz (*1960), Joseph Rodriguez (*1951), and Gregory Bojorquez (*1972). From the early 1980s on, each of these three American chroniclers provides distinct insights into the rise and global impact of American hip hop culture. HIP HOP delves into the lifestyle that, in combination with music, graffiti, breakdancing, and fashion, evolved into a worldwide phenomenon – from the streets of 1980s New York to Los Angeles, the Southern United States, Europe, and beyond, persisting into the present day. The exhibition is accompanied by music, interviews, and memorabilia. Jamel Shabazz’s work from the 1980s serves as both a personal visual diary and a historical document, capturing the birth of the Hip Hop movement in the vibrant metropolis of New York City. His portraits of individuals, pairs, and groups highlight the fashion of the era. Shabazz’s images embody the zeitgeist of New York, illustrating a pivotal era of music, fashion, and art. Shabazz's love for Hip Hop started in the very beginning in Brooklyn before it was even called Hip Hop, back in the early 1970s; it was purely called Rhyming & Mixing. When Hip Hop first made its introduction overseas, Jamel was stationed in the US Army in Germany. It was there when he heard one of the first major Hip Hop groups, Positive Force, debut hit song “We got the Funk dropped in 1979, shortly afterwards, Rappers Delight, was released by the Sugar Hill Gang.” Shabazz´s love for the genre manifested itself in the images he would make over the decades, with conscious Hip Hop being the soundtrack. The first Hip Hop artists he photographed were LL Cool J, and Public Enemy. Today, his Hip Hop portraits are synonymous with the movement itself. In his series East Side Stories – Gang Life in East L.A., Brooklyn-born photographer Joseph Rodriguez provides a documentary-style look at gang culture during the 1990s. His work portrays the lived experiences, nuances, and harsh realities of gang life. According to Rodriguez, “My interest in going to L.A. began in early 1992. I was strongly influenced by the Hip Hop coming out of the streets of Los Angeles and other cities across the country. These youth were rapping about the very important issues in their communities. Their music were like the newspapers of the streets.” In addition to his documentation of American Hip Hop on both the West and East Coast, Rodriguez’s portraits of groups in Sweden point to the many facets of international forms of Hip Hop. Starting in New York, Hip Hop quickly spread to other cities like Los Angeles and New Orleans, where Rodriguez documented notable figures such as Master P and the No Limit Crew. Los Angeles native Gregory Bojorquez has been documenting the Hip Hop scene since the 1990s: “Before I started photographing it, I was a fan of L.A. Hip Hop. The first things I photographed in Hip Hop were underground Hip Hop shows. Some were promoted by Orlando and Bigga B. Those shows were called Unity. Some artists they featured were Wu Tang affiliated artists, Goodie Mob, Big Pun. Sway & Tech had the Wake up Shows reunions. Some acts were OutKast, Gang Star, Pharoahe Monch and the legendary freestyle battle between Supernatural & Juice.” His works also feature Snoop Dogg & Tha Dogg Pound (DPG), 50 Cent, Eminem, DMX, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Missy Elliott, Mos Def, Swizz Beatz, and Ice Cube. Like Hip Hop itself, the three photographers Shabazz, Rodriguez, and Bojorquez have garnered international acclaim, reaching audiences far beyond the United States. Jamel Shabazz’s photographs are part of esteemed collections worldwide, including the National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC); the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation (Frankfurt am Main), the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles), and the Gordon Parks Foundation in New York. Gregory Bojorquez’s works have been exhibited at the Vincent Price Art Museum in Los Angeles and internationally in Cologne, Berlin, and other locations. Joseph Rodriguez’s photographs are housed in institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum, the International Center of Photography in New York, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, Museum Ludwig in Cologne, and the Albertina in Vienna.