The gritty world of 1980s New York: City dwellers show off their outrageous outfits, strip naked in the streets and sleep next to trash cans in startling black-and-white photos

• Photographer Miron Zownir captured the city’s seedy underbelly in the 1980s with this series of pictures
• They show New Yorkers parading in bizarre outfits and frequenting night-time venues of adult entertainment 
• The Ukrainian-German photographer said he himself had been arrested, beaten and shot at while in New York 

These startling black-and-white pictures show the gritty reality of New York City in the 1980s. 

Photographer Miron Zownir captured the city’s seedy underbelly after years of decline left the streets infested with crime and drugs, long before gentrification and globalization took hold.

He captured a series of striking shots in which New Yorkers strip off in the streets, parade in bizarre outfits and head to night-time venues offering adult entertainment. 

But law enforcement are never far away, with one woman being led away in handcuffs while another man sleeps next to a trash can as officers watch on.  

The photographer, who is half-Ukrainian and half-German, said he himself had been arrested, beaten by police and even shot at and attacked with baseball bats after arriving in New York.

He had previously taken pictures in Cold War-era Berlin in the 1970s – which, similarly, was a world away from the global city it is today. 

‘All of a sudden I was [in New York], and I saw all of those hustlers, transsexuals, and S&M freaks on the street and thought wow, this is really like Walk on the Wild Side,’ he said.   

Striking poses: One woman clasps her hands together at night (left) while wearing heavy make-up and a white dress in 1986, while another woman (right) slings her fur coat over her shoulder on a daytime visit to the waterside in 1982

Lights of the city: This picture taken in 1982 shows a stern-looking woman in a close-fitting outfit, standing in front of huge billboards, lights and a few motor vehicles in the streets of New York 

Running away: A partially nude woman wearing nothing but her underwear, a pair of fishnet leggings and carrying a plastic bag around her body runs along a street, while another person holds a placard reading: ‘Soho is full of s***’. This is from 1983

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Making a point: One man (left) strikes an aggressive pose, raising both his fists while standing topless in the street in 1982, while another (right) wears what appear to be trash bags and carries a can of Budweiser, in 1983

At the waterside: A group of people stand at the water’s edge – some fully clothed, others appearing as though they are ready to jump into the water – in this picture taken in 1986

On the sidewalk: A man stands by a road with in a state of increasing undress – his shirt over his shoulder, his trousers no longer covering up his private parts – while another man, sitting down, looks at the camera 

Entertainment: A woman stands in front of posters advertising an adults-only event in 1982 (left), which promises to be ‘sexciting’ and ‘among the hottest sex scenes of the year’. Another woman stands on a telephone box the same year, right

Lying down in front of the law: This naked woman has spreadeagled herself on the grass in front of a police vehicle – one of two empty emergency vehicles parked on an unkempt field in 1983 

Not suitable for children: A group of people – some of them presumably too young to enter this particular theater – stand in front of an advert for Love Butcher, which promises to be ‘raunchy’ and ‘oversexed’

Going places: A woman in a skimpy outfit is escorted away with her hands cuffed behind her back in 1981 (left), while another woman talks to a motorist (right) in 1983

Street scene: This picture from 1980 shows a mysterious vapour on one side of this New York City road – perhaps coming out of a manhole or else as spray from a passing car 

Treatment: In this image from 1982 a medical professional – or at least a man who owns a stethoscope – is examining a man lying in pain on the ground, while others around him appear to be watching on 

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