Disco Years
Ron Galella. PowerHouse, $65 (200p) ISBN 978-1-57687325-0
Illuminated by Galella's paparazzi flashbulb, or maybe just the drugs, these photos of Grace Jones, Mick Jagger, Liza Minnelli and other instantly recognizable faces mythologize the New York club scene. Everyone's young (Brooke Shields, Barbra Streisand, Rod Stewart), and there's plenty of skin, glitter and sizzle—but the sense of nakedness comes from the stars' unmasked elation, confidence and desire. Many of the photos were taken at Studio 54 in the late '70s; a few look back to 1967, when Andy Warhol presented Nico and the Velvet Underground at Gymnasium; others spin ahead to the late '80s. Regardless of era, nearly every picture demands a double take. (Oct. 22)
Edie: Girl on FireDavid Weisman and Melissa Painter. Chronicle, $50 (192p) ISBN 978-0-8118-5526-6
Raised to stardom by Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick embodied art, drugs and fashion in '60s New York. A new feature film and a documentary coming this winter, and multiple books, attest to her legacy. This candid biography by Weisman, a codirector of her film Ciao! Manhattan, and co-writer Painter surpasses the others, like Edie Factory Girl (VH1 Books, Oct.). Moving from her dysfunctional, blue-blood New England upbringing to death in the grip of addiction, the book showcases 250 images interspersed with anecdotes from stars like Bob Dylan and George Plimpton, and an audio CD of Edie's final interviews. (Nov.)
In Vogue: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion MagazineNorberto Angeletti and Alberto Oliva. Rizzoli, $75 (440p) ISBN 978-0-8478-2864-7
From the illustrated covers of Vogue's founding in 1892 to the advent of color photography in the 1930s and today's postmodern world, this thick volume is as elegant and engrossing as the magazine. An essay by Susan Sontag on the social implications of fashion photography enhances profiles of Irving Penn, Helmut Newton, Annie Leibowitz and other image-makers, along with the models, athletes and powerful women who have graced the magazine's pages. Behind-the- scenes anecdotes and proofs that did—and didn't— make the cut offer an intimate look at how the magazine assembles its public face. (Sept. 22)
After the FloodRobert Polidori. Steidl (D.A.P., dist.), $90 (336p) ISBN 978-3-86521-277-1
With only a brief introduction, photographer Polidori plunges the reader into hurricane Katrina's wake of destruction across the Gulf coast. Oversize photos capture the stark reality: whole neighborhoods under water and later in shambles, and close-ups of sodden bedrooms, mud-scoured kitchens and painterly mold spores. As the more than 500 photos taken between September 2005 and April 2006 progress, destruction eventually gives way to temporary trailers, which appear next to the rubble. The poignant absence of humans and short captions give the collection a powerful austerity, though some viewers may find it relentlessly clinical. (Nov.)
Zheng He: Tracing the Epic Voyages of China's Greatest ExplorerMichael Yamashita. White Star (dist. by Rizzoli), $39.95 (448p) ISBN 978-88-544-0164-8
Mixing ancient Chinese prints and vivid color photographs, Yamashita retraces forgotten journeys of Ming Dynasty explorer Zheng He, reputed to have reached the Americas 70 years before Christopher Columbus and other Europeans. Following Zheng's seven voyages, Yamashita traveled from the South China Sea to the Swahili coast of east Africa and the Middle East, capturing vestiges of Zheng He's world in contemporary Asia. Best suited to serious readers, the historical background contributed by Gianni Guadalupi along with Yamashita's introductions to each series of photographs clarify the connections between the two. (Oct. 17)
Explorations Along an Imaginary CoastlineMartha Casanave. Hudson Hills, $40 (64p) ISBN 978-1-55595-278-5
A longtime resident of the central California coast, photographer Casanave positioned a pinhole camera on the seashore to get a crab's eye view, then experimented with various effects during long periods of exposure. Sometimes dreamlike, sometimes heavy-handedly surreal, her delicate gray-on-gray images capture the movement of clouds, waves, seaweed and sand, along with an enigmatic man, outfitted with bowler hat, trench coat and rimless spectacles. (Sept. 25)
