TACO BOOK

That’s A Crazy One

Cover Design by Mel Stones
All Photographs Copyright 2017 © High & Mel Stones
All texts copyright the authors.
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form (electronic or mechanical), without expressed written permission from the publishers.
ISBN # 978-0-692-77563-9 • First Edition 2017 • 1/1000
Published by And Wuh Press • Section 24 • Block 1 • Plot 2 • Grave 9
Distributed by www.thatsacrazyone.com Printed in China.
E. 2nd Street & Avenue C.

We made this book for our crew who are in these pages, and some who are not. Many of us never went to
school so this is our yearbook. However some of us are no longer here, they didn’t make it through the
journey. This book is for them, their memory, their lives. They are loved and will never be forgotten.
Sajan 9.1.71 - 7.27.99
Noreen 8.22.74 - 7.9.00
Justin 3.21.75 - 7.10.00
Keenan 8.4.74 - 7.5.01
Vanilla 10.31.73- 10.24.01
Harold 4.2.74 - 2.17.06

N.Y.C. in the 90’s was chaotic, dangerous and FREE...and oh what fun we had.
Ours was the time of Pre Giuliani, when the few cops that were left on the job had real crimes to worry about. We were left to our own,
as long as we held a line. Smoking blunts and drinking 40’s in the streets was daily life. Don’t bother nobody, don’t get bothered.
The crew was made of kids from all boroughs, all shades, but pretty much the same income bracket : broke. We leaned on each other a lot
and spent the majority of our time pooling funds from whatever hustle we had going on to buy a dime of dirt weed, a Philly or a Old E. 15
heads on a single spliff and mad backwash. It didn’t matter, we would be on the streets or in some dive diner getting coffee refills to hide
from the cold anywhere we could go so that we could all just stay hanging.
High’s was an open house, and the main meeting grounds. During this time, St. Marks off Avenue A. was a battleground for squatters and
homeless involved in the Tompkins Square Park Riots a far throw from the hipsterville, fro yo, don’t know my ass from my elbow crowd there now.
N.Y.C. was alive then, it’s in a coma now. N.Y.C. my sleeping giant, please wake up.
Putting together this book has been years in the making and emotional. High and I had photographed our friends for most of our teens,
creating this full portrait of what so many people had tried to capture from the outside.
The reality is that some of us made it out, some of us drowned and some are still in limbo. For whatever the outcome, we all have a tremendous
bond that is unbreakable. Those days shaped us forever.
I hope that this photographic memoir does it justice.
E. 9th Street & Avenue C

The nineties, downtown Manhattan. That unique moment in time that existed between the clean up and order of the ravage of the eighties
and the coming onslaught of wealth and entitlement that has remained ever since. The grit and grime of the nineties provided an opening just
large enough to allow you to be buck wild. At least buck wild enough to satisfy those youthful urges to do what you wanted. Downtown was its
own little contradictory parallel universe. When the GAP opened up on 2nd Ave, there was still a vast array of drugs openly available up and
down St. Marks Place. Starbucks opened on Astor Place next to the Cube while Japanese tourists walked by dope fiends nodding out on the corner.
An era that now seems to epitomize the last days of a truer New York, before the new New York. The music, the style, the scene, the attitude and
the never to be forgotten moments and places that made it so adoringly reminiscent.
The nineties also marked the end of another era the one of 35mm film. Digital medium would come to replace film in a quick and
sweeping fashion. It was the pre cell phone camera age that ultimately made everyone and everything so profoundly accessible and overexposed.
The images were truly candid. They were not posed or staged, filtered or Photoshopped. Mel and High shot the photographs without knowing
the photos would eventually become a means to honor the memory of those that have passed on, nor that the way in which they documented their
own lives would quickly become so remarkably uncommon and unique.
Mel and High’s vast array of subjects spanned from punk, goth, club to skate kids in addition to the neighborhoods around them. It was them,
through their own lens. It spanned years and boroughs. It captured the charisma, personas and style that came to influence a generation to follow.
It is a perspective not only from the now dated 35 mm film but also from the inside, where you will find the level of authenticity undeniable. Most
striking is how they captured the “quiet” moments, where the magic happened. It wasn’t about what club you went to or what you wore or who
you fucked or who you knew it was about sitting back, talking shit and laughing about it all afterwards. They weren’t trying to be anyone or anything
except themselves and have some fun while doing it. These are intimate flashes of time that could have been achieved only by those that were in
the midst of it. Mel and High were literally there for it all; they were simply taking pictures of their friends, with no other intention except to enjoy it.
It is only here where you will see a level of comfort and respect that existed between these individuals. The inordinate amount of time spent together
lent itself to the incredible number of images they have been able to produce whether it be skating at the Brooklyn Banks, holding hands on the
train, smoking a blunt on the stoop, chilling at Odessa’s, hanging at WSP or getting ready at our house to go out. It is a snapshot of the places
and streets called home and the characters intertwined within it. It is the real story of these kids and not a miscalculated, misogynist, sex and drug
fueled interpretation of it. Unconventional without being intentional.
Tamar Krasnow
January 2017

Previous page -
East & West view of E.13th
Street
1991
High - St. Marks Place Roof
Mel - St. Marks Place Roof

THE LOWA
I grew up on St. Marks Place. Not when it was in the east village but when it was in alphabet city...the Lowa. I started high school in 1990 during the Dinkins
administration. At 14 it was as easy then to buy a beer at the bodega or liquor at the liquor store as it was to get weed, coke or dope on my block. Clubs let us in
and trains were sketchy as shit. My first week going to high school I got robbed twice, both times ending in the person robbing me getting pissed cause I aint had shit.
Even though I was very vocal in trying to explain that I aint had shit in the first place. That’s when we all came together, none of us had shit but each other. ~ High
Drawing - High
St. Marks Place Hallway

SOS
Tompkins Square Park
On order of the Real Estate Lobby,
the police are coming
to knock down tents
of the homeless.
When will they do it? Thursday?
Friday?
David Dinkins sanctioned it,
Because Dinkins is
a COWARD and a FAKE.
Koch will carry it out.
If you have any GUTS, if you
know WHY they are doing it, you
gotta BE THERE!
Negotiations were attempted,
Housing was DEMANDED.
Dinkins double crossed the people.
He’s freezing out the homeless.
When it all COMES DOWN -
TOMPKINS SQUARE -
BE THERE!
~ Flyer posted on tree on 7th Street & Avenue A.
All I can think about is that time in my life was the best. And I didn’t think I would still be here. ~ Brian
Brian - E. 4th Street Hallway

I think back to friends of mine who never made it, who got caught up in snares, things that would eventually take their lives. Their faces are never far from
my mind, twenty years later. How could I forget, when we walked the same streets, faced the same threats, shared the same 40 ounces, saw the same sunsets.
~ Big Lou
Big Lou - Sunset Park

Tamara, Hamster, Cairo,
Mel & High -
Washington Square Park
In the 90’s the park was
completely unpoliced and
exactly where we wanted
to be. Cheap alcohol and
weed, wasted fun and an
inexhaustable energy of
strange.

Mel & Brian - E. 5th Street
High & Lex - E. 5th Street

Justin - The Cube
Landscapes - Astor Place

We didn’t have cell phones then. You would go to the spot. That’s how you would find people at the spot. You would go to the spot and see who was there.
And then you could go on an adventure, or go to the next spot, or go back to somebody’s house. If no one was there, you would go to the next spot, or you would
just hang out at the spot. There were a lot of spots, and the spot changed with the season and the time of day. But one place that was always spot on was the Cube.
~ Lex
Lex - Astor Place

Mel - Tompkins Square Park
June - Washington Square Park

Drawing - Gio
Gio - Washington Square Park

High - St. Marks Place
Justin - St. Marks Place

Lex, Angel & Smash - E. 5th Street
June - St. Marks Place

Brian - Tompkins Square Park
Drawing - Justin

Previous page -
Sajan, Angel & Smash
Justin & Brian - Leschko’s
Avenue A & E. 7th Street
Sitting for hours getting free
coffee refills until they got
pissed and sent us on our
way. Needles on the floor,
blood spatter, the works.

Gio
June
Lex
Noreen & Gilly
Justin
Omar
Giz
Sonja & Adam
Julie

Alex
Robbie
Matt
Charlie
Jonji
Brian
Joey
Danny & Cairo
Tamara

The Wanderer -1st Avenue & St.
Marks Place
All she ever did was walk and
mumble to herself, never on
the sidewalk but always in the
street. This was the first time
after years of passing us by that
she locked eyes with me and my
lens. She posed waiting for me
to shoot and kept walking.

Hot Dog -Avenue A
In her birthday dress, you can
have your cake and eat it too
girl. Hot Dog used to be an LSD
hustler. Story goes one day she
got chased down by DT and
ate her stash. She would come
and hang out with us on High’s
stoop and fuck with people. A
real riot and a genuine soul.

We were on our way to Limelight, typical night starting around 1am. We would get drink tickets and pills at the club then head out to an after hour party
at Save the Robots until 9am. I think we’re 16 in this picture. Limelight shut down a couple of years after that and got turned into a mall. ~ June
June & High - 2nd Avenue
Hallway

June - St. Marks Place
High - St. Marks Place
Jamal - St. Marks Place
Chappie - 1st Avenue

Brian - Brooklyn bound
R Train

Quotes - High
Drawing - Justin
Jonji - St. Marks Place

Gio - Astor Place
Mel - Sunset Park

“Shootin the gip”
“Yo, I was shootin the gip uh
wif my mack daddy pimp
Pass me another blunt so I could take another hit
of the crypt shit
that wake flip on a nick when I maxin and relaxin on
that smooth tip
I see that chick over there wif them fat fat hips
so I could dip dip dip my spliff when I split her slit
wif my tongue while I roll it around while I’m playin
wif her clit
Chillen on the roof at Highlyann’s on St.Marks
Drinkin a 40 once while I get naughty in the dark”
Giz 1992
Roof - St. Marks Place

High & Justin -
E. 5th Street
E. 4th Street Hallway
St. Marks Place

Anyone who was anyone believed we were on top of the world back then. Unstoppable. Unbreakable. Free.
We believed we were at the height of it all. Downtown. We didn’t have to chase cool. We were dropped into cool.
Effortless. No one blogged about it. There was no guidebook. You couldn’t buy it. It was just a feeling, a shared
knowledge. We were where we were supposed to be. We were who we were supposed to be. With each other.
Back then. ~ Joanna
Joanna & Gio - Avenue A
Dirty Gary & Ryan
Avenue A

Noreen’s energy made you feel safe when you probably were very much at risk whilst having the time of your life.
She was a leader, magnetic, inclusive and always looking out for the little guy. Passionate and free, she worked her
way through the night, picking up the partygoers one by one, joining her with their finger pointing up to heaven
to the beat of our music. ~ Joanna
Noreen - Bay Ridge
Sajan - E. 7th Street

Saj was an old school homeboy from a breed that they don’t make in New York anymore. He was pure young lust,
for better and for worse. Nothing made him happier than rallying up a posse on St. Mark’s, going for a walk in the
Village, getting into a big street fight somewhere between Broadway and 6th Ave, then coming back to the East
Side to have sex in a vestibule or on a rooftop. That to him was a perfect night. If he were born 300 years ago,
he would have started an empire.~ Lex

Nuri & Jamal - Brooklyn Banks

Put your hands Behind your Back and don’t talk! the legal aid said
right before she walked to the jewjudge talkin some shit. all sorts
of things were going through my head like what if I had a gun and
surprizingly pulled out lettin off lead. this Bitch legal aid, Jew ass
judge and all these fat Redneck cops would be pronounced dead on
the spot. here she comes O.K!! this is what you got! Four open
cases she says Placing the Papers in the table.
Umm! miss will I Be able to go home today? woe!! well I don’t
Think so.
Well miss what are you telling me. What I’m saying is you
have three fellonys. armed robbery attempted murder and
assault. miss! that wasn’t my fault! and your charged for fare
beating. Mean while I’m standin there pissed and this trotch
ain’t listening to a word I say. I guess to her I’m just another
nigger, another case another long day at work in this anoying
place. If I was white my face would have been dumb Red.
I shook my dreads to cover my face and listened to the judge
give me my time. This cop places the cuffs on. and more
violent thoughts went through my mind. again. and again. and
Again. and again. and AAAAH! Shit! I think I’m gonna loose
it in here!!! Court or Caught?
Drawing & Words - Jamal
Jamal - Brooklyn Banks

Jeff, Kyle & Erfua - Brooklyn Banks
Justin, Kyle, Erfua - Brooklyn Banks

Eddie, _ & June - Brooklyn
Banks
Mel - Brooklyn Banks
Prize grab - Banks

Ivan - St. Marks Place
Jones & Frank - Astor Place
Hamilton - Brooklyn Banks

Justin Charles Pierce III
I miss you and I am sorry I could
not stand up during your funeral
and say all the things I felt.
My heart was too broken.
They say time heals all wounds
but it has been over 15 years and
my tears fall just as easy.
I want people to know that beyond
anything they saw on screen, you
were a fiercely loyal friend.
You made no excuses. You made
everyone feel valid and accepted
and that is what made you so cool.
You are thought of daily by so
many, more than most will ever
be able to say in passing.
Wish you had stayed longer,
there was still so much to do,
so much more. In our next life
bro, in the next.
~ Mel
Signatures - Justin
Justin - Brooklyn bound
R train

Harold & Jamal - St. Marks Place
Harold - St. Marks Place

There is this great myth of living by “No Rules,” which is the best
way to define our lives. The fact remains that there are rules, your
rules and the rules of the streets. These are rules you have no choice
but to follow. We lived recklessly on the edge, yet felt in complete
control of our destined path for that moment.
Individuality brought us together in a time that seemed endless,
and still does. To be a part a single experience with one or all of
these unique individuals is amazing in itself, yet this was a daily
routine in a landscape that stayed the same as much as it changed.
We had no choice but to improvise, adapt and overcome. We have
lost so many beautiful souls and paths have traveled in different,
amazing directions, but we were truly blessed to have lived this
time in our lives together.
~ Jamie
Hernie, Story, Hickey, Bici,
Jones - Astor Place

Hickey - Astor Place

I met Harold at the original SHUT Skates offices on Mott Street in NYC around 1987 He must have been 13 years old and was already a
frenetic menace, constantly cracking annoying jokes, trying to con you out of whatever skate shwag he could, and relentlessly twisting his short
nappy afro haircut into the beginnings of tiny baby dreadlocks.
At this point, Harold wasn’t the legendary pro skater you all know and love. He was a spidery 100 pound lunatic just learning how to skate on
second hand boards and mix matched trucks. Whenever he would explode into the warehouse at this time, everyone would groan. “Fuck Not
this fucking kid again.” He was incessant, occasionally amusing, and always eager to take whatever hand me downs he could finagle. But the
most distinctive thing about him, to me, was the unmistakable smell of Fried Chicken that followed him wherever he went.
I am not lying.
Now, one must understand, in New York City in the 1980’s, a white Guy like myself asking “Does that little black kid smell like fried chicken?”
could very easily lead to said White Guy getting punched in the face. So I just kept this observation of Harold’s Fried Chicken Stink Fog to
myself.
Early that summer, Harold came into SHUT, ran amok, and abruptly left in a cloud of pungent Fried Chicken vapor. There I sat, left alone
with Rodney Smith, one of the founders of SHUT and a physically huge Black Man. Quietly, Rodney and I looked at one another for a long,
uncomfortable moment. I was unsure if I should say anything about the overwhelming smell of Fried Chicken that suddenly cut through
SHUT’s ubiquitous WD 40 aroma. The tension was thick. But then Rodney narrowed his eyes and said “Does that boy smell like Fried Chicken
to you?” I let out a huge sigh of relief as we both began to discuss young Harold and the Fried Chicken Stink Fog. How could this be?
He literally smelled like a one man KFC. We discussed this Fried Chicken situation for at least an hour.
Rodney and I went out for chicken directly afterwards.
As the summer wore on, I began to catch Harold skating around NYC more and more. Always engulfed in the haunting Fried Chicken Stink
Fog. Skating the Brooklyn Bridge Banks together one day hunger kicked in and Harold, myself, and a few other kids skated over to the Burger
King on Fulton Street. After getting my burger I ventured outside to eat when I spotted Harold, too poor to buy himself any Fast Food,
waiting for us on the cement planters. I walked over and sat next to him, his overwhelming chicken fume mingling with the smell of my fries.
Feeling sorry for Harold, but cautious of a con job, I asked Harold if he had anything to eat. “Sure I do.” he responded and proceeded to pull
out a greasy wad of paper towels wrapped around a collection of small fried chicken wings.
As Harold began to eat his fried chicken wings, he explained to me that his Grandma would never let him leave the house without giving him
some fried chicken to take with him. “That’s nice.” I thought to myself as I looked at Harold’s hands. They were shiny and glistening, covered
in a thick sheen of fried chicken grease. “Here man.” I said as I offered Harold some napkins. Then, here, for the first time in my life, I gazed
upon the genius that was Harold Hunter “Nah man. I’m trying to get dreadlocks.” he responded. And with that, Harold began to twist his
short baby dreadlocks using all the left over chicken grease on his hands to lubricate and condition his ever expanding knotty Fried Chicken flavored
hair His fried chicken greased up dreadlocks! Here was the mysterious source of Harold Hunter’s ever present Fried Chicken Stink Fog.
Impressed, I snorted out a satisfied smile.
Miss you kid.
Eli Morgan Gesner
Harold - St. Marks Place

Frank - Astor Place
Jones - Astor Place

Justin - Union Square
Hickey, Ham & Jeff -
Washington Square Park
Ham & Ivan - Tompkins
Square Park
Justin & Lex - Avenue A

Ryan - 14th Street

NEV - St. Marks Place
Raj & Bob - St. Marks Place
Juice Bar - St. Marks Place
St. Marks was a hustler’s
hub, you could get your
hands on pretty much any
drug as long as you knew
who to ask.

My house became a place to stay for a lot of our friends specifically because of its location on St. Marks and the fact that my mom broke out of the city 3
months a year and was cool as shit the other 9 months. She loved my friends and let them crash at all hours of the night. Fourteen with freedom. We had 6
bagels for a buck, 40’s and blunts, Pyramid and Cisco. No parents, we fed ourselves, relied on each other and we ran through the streets. No fear. ~ High
Justin & Mel - St. Marks Place
Mel & Ham - St. Marks Place

We were at Larry’s.
I had come to read
the script with Harold
and Justin.
They wanted me to
read it but I just kept
thinking what a perv
Larry was ever since
he wanted me to
make out with Ham
for some whack shoot.
I was like nahhh bro,
he’s just my homeboy.
I don’t think Larry
had relationships like
that. He reminded
me of that kid in high
school that couldn’t
get any ass.
Harmony and free
weed were just his
tools to get down.
That’s why I said fuck
it that day instead of
buying into dreams.
Seems like those
dreams only worked
out for a few. Funny it
was those who were not
really fucked up in the
game to begin with.
For these two, it didn’t
do them so well.
Sometimes I wish
KIDS never happened,
and I am sure I am not
the only one. ~ Mel
Harold - White Street
Justin - White Street

Drawing - Jamal
Chloe & High - Brooklyn Banks
Harmony & High -
Washington Square Park

Nancy - Park Slope

People kept asking “Yo, your man did that to you?” It became almost a joke after 4 months of rocking a black eye. My skull was
fractured in three places, all over 25¢ that some ghetto ass group home girls were trying to shake me down for. I got one of them
good though, she left with nine fingers...cause when it came down to it I did what I needed to do to get the bitch off me.
Previous page - Avenue C Squat
Mel - Sunset Park

Jones, B an, Ham, M ke,
& G o - S Ma ks P ace
Ha o d, Ham, J s , H ckey
Un on Sq a e

Harold - Astor Place
Harold - Union Square

White Owl & Phillies - 50¢ • Dutch Masters 75¢
40 oz OE - $2 or down the leg
Stoned to the bone. ~ Frank
High, Jonji, Mel, Frank, &
Ham - E. 9th Street

These are the characters we
grew up watching in the
Lower East Side including
Tony from the bodega
on the corner of St. Marks
and A. He let us get away
with the 40 oz. down the leg
and sold us blunts. He still
wears that Newport tee.

Harold didn’t do drugs then, he didn’t need to. He had learned early that it kills people you love. He grabbed the blunt and was
like “Yo let me get some, I want to be cool like you”. Of course he didn’t inhale. “stop wasting the weed” but it was worth it the way
he made us laugh. He was one in a million with a heart of gold, anyone would tell you that. ~ Mel
Harold, Jon, Gio & Ham -
St. Marks Place Roof

Drawing - Gio
Harold, Gio, Alisa & Ham -
St. Marks Place Roof

Ham, Alisa, Harold, Brian & Jonji
- St. Marks Place Roof

Drawing - Justin
Justin - Astor Place

Ivan & Harold -
Houston & Lafayette

Rest in PEACE. ~ Ivan
Ivan & Harold -
Houston & Lafayette

Kinda like being trapped in a void, constantly reaching upward and outward. Smoking a blunt on a meat packing district
building pre gentrification/pre Larry Clark’s directorial debut cult classic rooftop circa 1993. MasterCard priceless? “VOID”
as written across any contrite/irrelevant ideals in the light of that memory experienced. For me that is...~ Hamilton
Art & Writing - Ham
Ham - Zoo York roof W. 13th Street

Ryan & Ham - Brooklyn
roof

I met Loki in my first week of school and Justin a couple of weeks later, we were both 14. Loki brought him to my house they smoked a blunt in the stairway
before knocking on my door. My mom opened the door to smoke everywhere, but she didn’t care. She fell in love with them as I did. ~ High
Brian & Justin -
St. Marks Place

Maurice-
Astor Place

Rick, Javier, Harold, Ham Maurice
& June - St. Marks Place

The guys in these photos held me down HEAVY. They didn’t have to hang out with this 15 year old but they did..we bugged out all
night. They were like brothers to me..I mos def learned my street smarts from these cats. ~ Jav

Mel, Alisa, Nuri, Harold,
Jamal & Rick -
St. Marks Place
Mel, Harold & Kyle -
Campos E. 10th Street

Billy, High, Ivan & Steven -
St. Marks Place

No more Indo, Gin and Juice. Thanks Highlyann for bringing me some weed while I was in Greene Correctional Facility.
Stoops, Brooklyn style. ~ Steven
Drawing - High
Visiting Steven at Greene
Correctional Facility -
Coxsackie, New York

Eriche, Maurice, Justin,
Joey & June -
Bleecker Street Train

Previous Page - Joey & Jav
Hamilton -Rivington Street
Gio & Brian - E. 5th Street

Joey & Jav
Joey & Joanna
Brian, Jones & Maurice
Frank & Ryuan
Pete & Keith
Joanna & June
Frank, Ryan & Justin
Frank at Brooklyn Banks
Ham on 9th Street stoop
Jeff at Astor Place
Davey in St. Marks Place

You may remember me. If you do, I was probably on the couch.
On St. Marks. And likely with an attitude.
You were in my house, my space and I was powerless to do
anything about it. Do I really have to go brush my teeth while
everyone is in the fucking kitchen smoking a blunt?!?! Typical
little sister troubles.
As I grew, you became my friends and I know now of the bond that
existed with this dynamic group of people. The sense of comfort
and love and family that was created all of those endless days and
nights together. These are friendships that cannot be duplicated,
created at a time in NYC that will never be replicated.
~ Tamar
Tamar, Roxy & JR - St. Marks Place

Devil by Alisa
Devil by Gio
June & Just - Ft. Greene

Harold & Ronald - Campos E. 9th Street
Harold
Rick, Ivan, Ryan & Harold
Jonji & Jake - St. Marks Place
Jones, Pete, Jaime & Mike
Hamilton, Jonji, Joanna & Harold - St.
Marks Place

Previous page - Justin & Ham
Harold, Dune & Chris
Dune & Harold - St. Marks Place

This was the Spring of 95 Just and I were 18 and
19. He was living with my mom, my sister and I
on Saint Marks.
The first magazine article about KIDS had just
come out and this was our first time looking at it.
He was so excited, and we were so excited for him.
Looking back I cant believe this was the beginning
of the end…I cant believe you fucking left us.
~ High
Justin - St. Marks Place

Mel & Tamar - St. Marks Place

Just drawing
Just shaving - Vladecks Gouverneur Street

High - St. Marks Place
Mel - Sunset Park

All profits from the sale of this book will be donated to New York Public Schools Photography Program in memorial of our departed. We are paying it forward. xo Mel & High
THANK YOY U

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Photo Credits
High; 2, 3, 6b, 7, 11a, 13, 15a, 22g, 22k, 26, 27, 28b, 36b, 37a, 37b, 39, 42, 46b, 46c, 47, 51, 54a, 55b, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69,
70, 71, 72, 74a - 74c, 74e, 74f, 74i, 74j, 75, 76, 77b - 77d, 77f, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83b
Mel; 4, 6a, 8, 9, 11b, 12, 14, 15b, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22a - 22f, 22h - 22j, 22l - 22r, 23, 24, 25, 28a, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36a, 36c, 37c,
38, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46a, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54b, 55a, 55c, 55d, 56, 63, 64, 73, 74d, 74g, 74h, 77a, 77e, 83a

the highest vocation of photography is to explain man to man
Susan Sontag
GET CLOSE caution for your safety just can’t stop COMPOSITION we ran through those streets 15 heads on a single spliff FIND THE
LIGHT the void the freedom direct action just what the doctor ordered more doctors CAPTURE THE MOMENT none of us had shit
but each other each other each other REWIND
FOCUS and you will see next to a trash can, a girl sits smoking on the sidewalk, leaning on a spray painted dilapidated cement pillar all the signs
of urban decay, the graffiti reads ALONE, in That’s A Crazy One, Mel & High, FOCUS on the center of their activity N.Y.C. 19 90’s whether
it be Hot Dog all dressed up and eating cake, skating the Brooklyn banks or gazing at the skyline from the roof tops, the transparencies in these
photos allow us to grasp the rawness of the moment, havens of coffee mug lined counter tops, needles on the floor, blood splatter, FOCUS
the state or quality of having or producing a clear visual, not no rules but the street rules, the violence of poverty, i ain’t got shit.
FOCUS to pay particular attention to, and it is here that the photos transcend and rather than get stuck in the negative, death drugs sex
and incarceration, no, leave that for the pervert Larry, KIDS and the Hollywood shit.
FOCUS from the Latin meaning fireplace or hearth, the warmth of the colors and shades that reflect their life, no police in the park, the heart
of a home, High’s place on St. Mark’s Ave., a little sis complaining, friends who had each other’s back for life , from where the heat radiates,
Mel & High with this photographic memoir have captured on film what it means to have a family, which unlike the urban decay of their surroundings
blossomed and simply is beautiful, none of us had shit but each other.
FOCUS Love.
Dr. Payne
January 2017