Then and Now
by Steve Schapiro
Hatje Cantz
His career spans from the protests for Civil Rights to Occupy Wall Street, from Frank Sinatra to Kanye West.
Now Brooklyn-born photographer Steve Schapiro has collected some of his favorite pictures in a new coffee-table book, “Then and Now.”
“It’s always an adventure, going through the contact sheets,” Schapiro says. “You constantly find photos you don’t even remember taking.”
Schapiro is known for capturing celebrities and regular people in unguarded moments, usually after spending hours or days by their side.
“My job is to be a fly on the wall,” Schapiro says. “Most of the best pictures you get are spontaneous.”
Along the way, many subjects have become his friends, asking him to photograph their weddings or hang out at their house. While working for magazines such as People, Life and Vanity Fair, he bonded with stars such as Chevy Chase, and became godparent to Chase’s daughter.
Schapiro’s work for films also found him on set for some of the greatest movies of the era, getting behind the scenes of “Godfather” and “Taxi Driver,” among others.
Shapiro looked through 50 years of archives to find never-before-seen shots, including a few little-seen favorites. Here, Schapiro tells The Post the story behind some of his classic portraits.