Banksy’s ex-dealer Steve Lazarides is releasing a book of unseen photographs of the street artist in action captured during the time they worked together, before Banksy skyrocketed to global fame. Banksy Captured is coming out in December, and the first 50 readers to get their hands on it will have the chance to win a rare Banksy screen print.

Lazarides’s 250-page book of photographs document the 11 years that the former dealer worked with Banksy as his agent, photographer, and right-hand man. The images lift the veil on the secrecy surrounding the elusive artist, offering a behind-the-scenes look at some of his famous works while they were being executed.

Asked why the time felt right to release the images now, Lazarides tells Artnet News, “I only recently got the negatives out of my loft. The date is just how long it took me to scan and edit them, and then put a book together. Nothing more to it than that.”

The photographs will also be available as limited-edition prints with prices starting at £450 ($582). 

Lazarides began his career as a photographer who documented British subcultures and underground movements such as the early 1990s rave scene, skater communities, and the early days of street art. The book, which will be self-published and self-distributed by Lazarides, comes out in December and is available for £25 ($32).

Steve Lazarides, photo: Lars Fassinger.

If you’re quick off the mark, you may have a chance of winning a rare Banksy work. Lazarides is giving the first 50 buyers one of Banksy’s counterfeit £10 banknotes, featuring an image of Princess Diana (one of which was recently acquired by the British Museum). One of those tenners will be a golden ticket, and the winner will be given the rights to a rare Banksy screen print, Bomb Middle England, a countryside scene featuring a group of people playing a game of boules with bombs.

“I worked with him for 11 glorious years, during which time we broke every rule in the rule book, along with a fair few laws,” Lazarides says in a statement. With Banksy, Lazarides founded a screen-printing business, Picture on Walls, in 2003 to distribute artists’ and illustrators’ works at reasonable prices before the street art movement gained mainstream recognition. 

The dealer recently announced his retirement from art dealing just two years after he opened his gallery Lazinc. “I hate the art world,” he says. “I only became part of it because Banksy catapulted the movement into the stratosphere. It was a ride, however, I’m glad I’m out of it and about to enter the next ride.”

You can reserve a copy of the book online at banksycaptured.com. See a sample of the images in the book below. 

Images from “Banksy Captured,” courtesy of Steve Lazarides.

Pissing copper from “Banksy Captured,” courtesy of Steve Lazarides.

Chequebook vandalism from “Banksy Captured” courtesy of Steve Lazarides.

Untitled from “Banksy Captured,” courtesy of Steve Lazarides.