BANKSY CAPTURED

BANKSY CAPTURED by Steve Lazarides, now available to the book trade for the first time, charts the birth of our modern-day Robin Hood. A true art legend, a man able to articulate the voice of sub-culture that made its way to the mainstream. The negatives for these pictures lay in Lazarides’ loft for many years. Whilst Banksy’s rise to fame became undeniable these pictures took on a different meaning than just personal, private documentation. Along with never before heard tales of the artist at work and absurdist capers from their time working together BANKSY CAPTURED shares a moment in time before the artworld and most of the globe took note. From the introduction:I first met this scruffy, moody guy known as Banksy around 1997. At the time I was the inhouse photographer and picture editor for the magazine Sleaze Nation, created and edited by the wonderfully eccentric Steve Beale. He'd heard a rumour about an innovative young graffiti artist known as Banksy. Partly because we were all Bristolians and a pretty partisan bunch, he asked me to try and track him down. Through my contacts in Bristol, I got a hook up. We first met down by the docks where Banksy was helping coordinate an event called Walls on Fire. I drove Steve and I down to the rendezvous. Even at this point being anonymous was high on Banksy's agenda, and I was only permitted to photograph the back of his head. Afterwards we went on an almighty bender. The only downside was that when I returned the following day to pick up the car it had been nicked. In hindsight, it's weird to think that this meeting would go on to alter the course of my life. This book isn't about me as his manager, agent, or gallerist. It is a celebration of my time as a photographer documenting the birth of a legend. I had a back stage pass; permission to accompany him and document some of his most iconic imagery. It was only very recently, when looking through the whole of my picture archive, that I began to see the cultural value of this body of work. The portraits, reportage of Banksy putting works on the streets, shots in the studio and the documentation of his early art, have not had the airtime they deserve. Steve Lazarides