Floss

Erickson, who in 2003 became the first Black photographer to shoot the cover of Vogue, serves up an eye-popping debut collection full of artists, celebrities, and musicians. Starting out as a fine arts photographer in the 1980s, Erickson developed a style that set larger-than-life subjects against “gritty urban landscapes” (rapper Xzibit standing on top of a smoldering car with his fist raised against a graffiti-covered cityscape) and cinematic, semifantastical backdrops (the rock band Flaming Lips posing next to a penguin in a top hat on what appears to be a movie-set on a desert island). What’s clear in those shots, but especially in Erickson’s close-ups—Snoop Dogg peering through rings of smoke, Eminem staring at the camera from a boxing ring—is the sense of intimacy between artist and subject, which adds depth and vulnerability that complicate the subjects’ defiant poses. Hip-hop fans will take special delight in this vibrant celebration of American pop culture. (Oct.)