Café Royal Books is the kind of gritty, underground gold that punches through the noise with raw, real stories—told frame by frame. They’re not a café, they’re not royal, and they’re definitely not books. What they are is a razor-sharp archive of DIY photo zines that scream with the unfiltered soul of street life, punk scenes, and counterculture past. No gloss, no polish— just truth, straight from the pavement.

Janette Beckman — Raw Punk Streets UK 1979-1982

British-born photographer Janette Beckman began her career at the dawn of punk rock working for music magazines The Face and Melody Maker. She shot bands including the Clash, the Specials, Boy George and the Jam as well as three Police album covers.

Drawn to the underground hip-hop scene, she moved to NYC in 1983 and photographed pioneers such as Run DMC, Slick Rick, Salt-N-Pepa, Grand Master Flash, LL Cool J and more.

Beckman has published four books : ‘Made in the UK, Music of Attitude 1977-1982’, ‘The Breaks Stylin’ and Profilin’1982-1990’ ‘El Hoyo Maravilla’ and in 2018 ‘The MashUp’ a collection of her Hip Hop photographs reinterpreted by legendary graffiti artists.

Her work has been exhibited in galleries worldwide and is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Museum of the City of New York, Marseille Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe, and the Tokyo Nakamura Keith Haring Collection

She lives and works in New York for clients including Levi’s and Dior.

BOOK SPECS:

36 pages
Printed in England
Staple bound
14cm x 20cm