Mark Seliger's book is filled with a riveting cast of characters culled from the celebrity subjects he shoots as the chief photographer for both Rolling Stone and US magazines. A particularly stirring image is a 1987 Rolling Stone shot of Perry Farrell watering a sunflower garden. It is a powerful photograph, made all the more so by the fact that it is the image that essentially launched Seliger's career as one of today's leading music photographers. In the book's introduction, Eric Bogosian discusses the public's infatuation with celebrity, and how it is the photographer's job to capture that fleeting moment, that millisecond that encompasses the subject's spirit. And the artists that Seliger has caught in these moments are wildly diverse. His portraits of musicians range from seldom-photographed country stars like Loretta Lynn and Kitty Wells to Marilyn Manson, Tom Petty, Curtis Mayfield, and Courtney Love. His portraits of Drew Barrymore are among the best of her to date: the playfulness of Barrymore's personality shines through his depictions of her as Alice in Wonderland, a sumo wrestler, a boxer, and the only female boy scout at the mercy of her troop. Seliger displays a keen sense of color, and these photos jump off the page shouting for attention. His black-and-white portraits seem to try for a greater intimacy, and even though they still convey Seliger's sense of play, they are less theatrical than his flamboyant color work. There are, though, beautiful black-and-white portraits here of Sean Penn, Kurt Cobain, Joni Mitchell, and John Lee Hooker, to name a few. Seliger writes: "One of the challenges and benefits of working for Rolling Stone and US is having the opportunity to capture artists just as they're breaking through." This collection includes some very early photos of celebrities readers have come to know well over the years--and it is a fascinating to see how much of their personality he's captured on film. --Amra Brooks


Book Description
As the millennium fast approaches, it is Mark Seliger who emerges as the iconographer of the twentieth century's final decade. Seliger's award-winning (and often eyebrow-raising) photographs of musicians, actors, politicians, authors, comedians, and athletes bring to life almost every celebrity who mattered in the 1990s. Physiognomy: The Mark Seliger Photographs will be the ultimate showcase of his provocative work, the first monograph devoted exclusively to his images. Seliger is renowned for researching his subjects; he comes up with unexpected, imaginative ways to depict these personalities, going the extra mile to create an unforgettable image. Whether a clownish Jerry Seinfeld costumed as Buster Keaton or a candid Mick Jagger in a world-weary close-up, there is nothing formulaic about Seliger's approach. His work is exhilarating in its range, from sexy to broadly humorous, poignant to compelling. The portfolio is complemented by a farrowed by Eric Bogosian, the brash performance artist and playwright. Physiognomy is an engaging, high-impact volume that leaves no doubt about Seliger's place in the tradition of Irving Penn, Annie Leibovitz, Herb Ritts, and Bruce Weber.

FROM THE PUBLISHER