Ernie Panicciolli
By: Gregory Mannino
Little more than three decades ago an energy was beginning to form. It was found increasingly in the suburbs of the cities and in essence part of a culture that can be found even today. The energy was and still is, Hip Hop. No one has helped to launch its awareness to the world better than the legendary Hip Hop Photographer himself, Ernie Paniccioli. Before rap and hip hop videos adorned screens and airwaves all over the world, Ernie with the use of his endless drive and intuitive style of photography, was beginning to help mainstream hip hop legends like Slick Rick, Grandmaster Flash, Rock Steady Crew, Doug E. Fresh, Ice Cube, Queen Latifah, Public Enemy, Salt-N-Pepa, and so many more. He helped let loose the soul of hip hop and make it happen on the world.
A Native American growing up in a white man's society, Ernie broke the barrier of stereotypes… As a young man growing up in Brooklyn in areas such as Park Slope, Bedford Stuyvesant and Flatbush in the 1970's, Paniccioli picked up a camera for the first time and instantly converted his interest and abilities from painter to photographer. Inspired by his feelings of being cast as a second class citizen and perhaps through a gift from above, he started out by taking photographs of the graffiti that embodied the borough. Unaware to Paniccioli, he had stumbled upon his unforeseen destiny.
