Harlem's 125th Street is a marker of 20th century urban experience, a thoroughfare that encapsulates powerful stories of business and consumption, real estate and gentrification, glamour and entertainment, and political uprising. The book explores works and themes from a large roster of photographers and performance artists who have engaged with the constant mutation of this street-life.

The photographs in this book represent narratives of resilience and poems of survival against a rapid and sweeping movement of history across 125th street, where buildings and communities are periodically destroyed and built anew. The works shape a sense of belonging and identity that goes against the stereotyping and mystification of this neighborhood. It contributes to the writing of a new history of photography that is collective and collaborative. Among the artists featured are Dawoud Bey, Khalik Allah, Kwame Brathwaite, Jamel Shabazz, Hiram Maristany, Ming Smith, Ruben Natal San Miguel, Isaac Diggs & Edward Hillel, Lorraine O'Grady, and William Pope.L.

Artists include: Berenice Abbott, Khalik Allah, Alice Attie, Dawoud Bey, Kwame Brathwaite Isaac Diggs & Edward Hillel, Lola Flash, Hiram Maristany, Ozier Muhammad, Katsu Naito Marilyn Nance, Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Lorraine O'Grady, Gordon Parks, Pope.L, Jamel Shabazz, Coreen Simpson, Beuford Smith, Ming Smith, Morgan and Marvin Smith, Shawn Walker Hai Zhang.