68th Annual Pictures of the Year International Competition – 2011 POYi Award of Excellence, Julie Glassberg, Redux – “The Black Label Bike Club”.
Julie Glassberg for “The Black Label Bike Club“, award of excellence for Feature Picture Story
The Black Label Bike Club is known as the first “outlaw bicycle club.” It was created in 1992 by Jacob Houle and Per Hanson in Minneapolis, Minnesota and has chapters nationwide. They are one of the main contributors to the rise of tall bike culture and organized jousting competitions. This destructive, rebel culture revolves around the unlikeliest non-threatening object: the bicycle. Based out of Brooklyn, Black Label represent a blend of punk, grunge and hippie culture. They are an independent community who sees themselves rebelling against the system. In a society that some feel pushes them to consume, focus on money and overly-use technology, this group of young people seems to be resisting and fighting against it. Their community is mainly based on the bike culture, art and on the real value of relationships. They are a tight family, caring for each other, sharing meals, partying, or creating art together. Amidst an ongoing recession, and social pressures mounting, how does the young generation respond to it? Although they seem to be the carefree, self-destroying youth, they are quite aware of the situation today. As everyone, they love, hate, and also have their fears and concerns.
Julie Glassberg was born an raised in Paris, France. After studying graphic design fo four years, she decided to make her passion for photography become her life. Her interests are primarily based on the diversity of world cultures, subcultures, underground scenes as well as misfits of society, the weak, the feared, the unaccepted. Photography is like a passport to enter worlds that she would never be able to see otherwise. It simply is a way to learn about life from persons she meets. Wherever they come from…
Julie is currently working in New York City on her projects as well as freelancing for clients such as The New York Times. She is 2010 recipient for the LUCIE Scholarship Emerging Grant, a Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography, a 2011 POYi award of excellence, and was selected by PhotoEspana descubrimiento 2011.
Syndication Redux Pictures