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84 Intimate Portraits Of 1970s Rebellious Youth Captured By High School Teacher
Before Joseph Szabo was a world renown photographer, he was a teacher at Malverne High School in Long Island. And on his first days at the job he figured that he's gonna need something special to catch the attention of his pupils. So he brought a camera into class...
"I never had any agenda with my photography – it was never a money-making thing, it was just about connecting with young people – and so I think my photographs have a sort of authentic or genuine quality that a lot of people seem able to relate to," Joseph told Huck Magazine. "I have always tried to capture these very personal moments, in an honest way, to show people doing exactly what they’re doing. They could just be sitting on the school steps smoking a cigarette or they could be hanging out of a car door waving their hands and saying, ‘This is the last day of school and I’ll never come back here again!’ They could be jumping in the air with excitement because of the music they’re listening to or they could be like one of my all-time favorites Priscilla – the little girl smoking at Jones Beach – who expresses something about girlhood as well as something about a certain kind of maturity and experience."
"All these subjects and moments mean so much to me. They helped me understand people and allowed me to connect with them over the years. I hope they mean something to other people too."
More info: Joseph Szabo
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Janice Foster 7 years ago
Ironic that these shorts were acceptable in the 70s, but the next Bored Panda article is about a girl who recently got in trouble at school because her shorts were shorter than the length of her arms (when by her side.) Who is making these current rules? People who grew yoo in the 70s, maybe?@
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Anna Thouvenin 7 years ago
Some of those fashion items are so vintage. It would be fun that those glasses came back into trendy :D
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Rachel Kinney-Vanhaften 7 years ago
"Youth" and teens look so much older back then than they do now!!
Sam Jones 1 year ago
The 3 in the front look mid 20’s! You rarely saw tattoos back then. Looks like a concert venue. Could be Rolling Stones? The guy with the shorts has a Stones T Shirt. But you did see those T shirts everywhere!
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Philippa Denney 7 years ago
Nope. It was a contemporary look then. Part of the same (street) culture.
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Joanna Huang 7 years ago
Wait, I thought the photographer was just a teacher??!! How did he get into their rooms?
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Willem Havenaar 7 years ago
This guy wears a t-shirt of the German metal band Warlock. This band was formed in 1982.
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Nikki Sutton 7 years ago
"We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can."
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Fred Burrows 7 years ago
I was a troublemaker of sorts but Sister Christian in the center there would be getting anonymous poetry in her locker .
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Griselle Lugo 7 years ago
I wonder what signal was the hand giving?? A fist? A middle finger? Who knows...
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Janet Mayer 2 years ago
I had a winter coat like that. Wish I would have saved some of my clothes!
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bigoldthor 7 years ago
"Dear lord, we thank you for this Baby Ruth bar we are about to receive."
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bigoldthor 7 years ago
"I wonder if I could stand on one leg and spread my arms out like a pelican's wings, crouching ominously in a pre-kick position..."
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What do you think ?
Jhoa 7 years ago
Lovely pictures. The only concerning thing is that this guy is supposedly a teacher? And there are photographs in women's bathrooms and peoples bedrooms.
Steve Gad 6 years ago
You're applying Millennial paranoia to 45 year old art. . No one was thinking that back then, and what a shame folk like you perpetuate the 'All men are opportunist child molesters' mindset. It doesn't help. Please just enjoy the photographs. Thanks.
Load More Replies...
John L 7 years ago
This late 70s period was the 'let down' after the Vietnam generation of protests, drugs, and hippies. There weren't any real causes to get worked up over, so the 'Starsky & Hutch' kids just marked time and turned inward. It was also the blurred dividing line where the Baby Boomers and GenXers couldn't make up their minds what they wanted to be.
Shari H 7 years ago
I still haven't made up my mind...or maybe I just want to be me. I'll tell you in 17 years when I'm free from the 9-5 grind. I know that time will fly past because I could swear I was 18 yesterday...
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Jenice Grimes 7 years ago
we don't have kids like this anymore because social media kids are scared to be them selfs because it could end up going viral and running their lives
Ethel Casey 7 years ago
Yes there is. The picture of the posing lifeguard...
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Marios Louvaris 7 years ago
Why don't these things happen anymore???? I live in the wrong generation! Technology took everything from us :(
Wes Wesley 3 years ago
anybody notice that there were very few fat younger people in the 1970's? i remember it being exactly that way. there was always that one fat kid and everyone else was skinny
Brenten Stevens 7 years ago
Ummmmm I don't get it I was one of the truly rebellious teens in the 70s and none of these images even come close to our antics . In fact I find most of these images beautiful in their own right . Even opposite race lovers how beautiful is that 😉❤️ Truly theses immages are just normal high school kids in the 70s if this is considered rebellious that ideal must come from Lilly white ideals not real people if ya get me 😉🤠🤠😉
Brenten Stevens 7 years ago
I don't get it I was one of them rebellious teens in the 70s and none of these photos even come close to our antics not even close . In fact I found nothing but beauty in many of them and puppy love no matter whom your partner is one may love no matter if it's opposite Race love is love 😉❤️💕💓
Robin Smith 7 years ago
Love these pictures. I grew up in the 70s and they brought back a lot of memories. Wish I was back there again. We had our own set of problems, don't get me wrong, but nothing compared to today's youth. Unfortunately, I'm having to raise a child in the midst of this madness!! Anyway......I wasn't aware that the thong was out in the 70's????
M Redmond 7 years ago
I think this guy is a teacher NOW, he was probably a lot younger at the time he began taking pictures! He started in the 70's and through the 80's! So many haters and negative comments or people trying to determine what year it was! Enjoy this mans cool photos and shut up with all the hate!!
Don Manning Jr. 7 years ago
Some of these pics weren't from the seventies, like #51 the guy in the pic has a Warlock T-shirt on. Warlock didn't come out until the Eighties.
Elina Kuusisto 7 years ago
This collection is amazing! Some of them made me cry. Wow! Thank you for sharing them
Kris Schaefer 7 years ago
No cell phones- they all looked happier, more connected to the people they were with. I wish things were still like that.
Richard van Hees 7 years ago
I don't see any rebellious picture here.. Just normal people having fun, just like we do now.
Crystalyn Snyder 7 years ago
I wonder what some of the subjects are at now and their perspective on this.
Jhoa 7 years ago
Lovely pictures. The only concerning thing is that this guy is supposedly a teacher? And there are photographs in women's bathrooms and peoples bedrooms.
Steve Gad 6 years ago
You're applying Millennial paranoia to 45 year old art. . No one was thinking that back then, and what a shame folk like you perpetuate the 'All men are opportunist child molesters' mindset. It doesn't help. Please just enjoy the photographs. Thanks.
Load More Replies... John L 7 years ago
This late 70s period was the 'let down' after the Vietnam generation of protests, drugs, and hippies. There weren't any real causes to get worked up over, so the 'Starsky & Hutch' kids just marked time and turned inward. It was also the blurred dividing line where the Baby Boomers and GenXers couldn't make up their minds what they wanted to be.
Shari H 7 years ago
I still haven't made up my mind...or maybe I just want to be me. I'll tell you in 17 years when I'm free from the 9-5 grind. I know that time will fly past because I could swear I was 18 yesterday...
Load More Replies... Jenice Grimes 7 years ago
we don't have kids like this anymore because social media kids are scared to be them selfs because it could end up going viral and running their lives
Ethel Casey 7 years ago
Yes there is. The picture of the posing lifeguard...
Load More Replies... Marios Louvaris 7 years ago
Why don't these things happen anymore???? I live in the wrong generation! Technology took everything from us :(
Wes Wesley 3 years ago
anybody notice that there were very few fat younger people in the 1970's? i remember it being exactly that way. there was always that one fat kid and everyone else was skinny
Brenten Stevens 7 years ago
Ummmmm I don't get it I was one of the truly rebellious teens in the 70s and none of these images even come close to our antics . In fact I find most of these images beautiful in their own right . Even opposite race lovers how beautiful is that 😉❤️ Truly theses immages are just normal high school kids in the 70s if this is considered rebellious that ideal must come from Lilly white ideals not real people if ya get me 😉🤠🤠😉
Brenten Stevens 7 years ago
I don't get it I was one of them rebellious teens in the 70s and none of these photos even come close to our antics not even close . In fact I found nothing but beauty in many of them and puppy love no matter whom your partner is one may love no matter if it's opposite Race love is love 😉❤️💕💓
Robin Smith 7 years ago
Love these pictures. I grew up in the 70s and they brought back a lot of memories. Wish I was back there again. We had our own set of problems, don't get me wrong, but nothing compared to today's youth. Unfortunately, I'm having to raise a child in the midst of this madness!! Anyway......I wasn't aware that the thong was out in the 70's????
M Redmond 7 years ago
I think this guy is a teacher NOW, he was probably a lot younger at the time he began taking pictures! He started in the 70's and through the 80's! So many haters and negative comments or people trying to determine what year it was! Enjoy this mans cool photos and shut up with all the hate!!
Don Manning Jr. 7 years ago
Some of these pics weren't from the seventies, like #51 the guy in the pic has a Warlock T-shirt on. Warlock didn't come out until the Eighties.
Elina Kuusisto 7 years ago
This collection is amazing! Some of them made me cry. Wow! Thank you for sharing them
Kris Schaefer 7 years ago
No cell phones- they all looked happier, more connected to the people they were with. I wish things were still like that.
Richard van Hees 7 years ago
I don't see any rebellious picture here.. Just normal people having fun, just like we do now.
Crystalyn Snyder 7 years ago
I wonder what some of the subjects are at now and their perspective on this.
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