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About the Book:
A portrait of the artist is always his subject. We know the photographer through the scenes they frame, capture, and keep like butterflies pinned inside a shadow box for eternity. The photographs of Christopher Makos capture a time and place that is always now, forever the present, the moment as it passes before his lens. Makos’ work keeps to the cutting edge, much like the photograph of a punk rock girl with a razor by Gillette dangling precariously beside her neck.
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That photograph appears in White Trash Uncut (Glitterati Incorporated), the stellar republication of Makos seminal 1977 paperback book. Where the 70s original was as Pop as Warhol himself, the deluxe Glitterati edition is New York City in the new millennium. As Debbie Harry aptly notes, Makos was the first photographer to record the convergence of the uptown and downtown worlds, and his book figuratively represents these ideals. This raw, beautiful volume chronicled the punk scene as it came of age on the street of New York. Interspersed in the mix are portraits of boldface names, including Andy Warhol, Man Ray, Tennessee Williams, Halston, John Paul Getty III, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Grace Jones, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, Tom Verlaine, Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Zandra Rhodes, Divine, Lance Loud, and Marilyn Chambers, among others.
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White Trash Uncut is printed in five colors—the fifth being silver—recalling nothing so brilliantly as Warhol’s Factory. The two artists are kindred spirits, both sharing a flair for the sensuous. Sex, drugs, and rock & roll—that’s just the tip of things to come. In Makos’ world, everything is beautiful, be it the filthy butts of half-smoked cigarettes strung on a necklace sold at Bergdorf Goodman or a photograph of a man’s crotch that has been captioned, “Hustler in a professional pose. Jeans by Fiorucci. Milan.”
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“White Trash” is an essence, an eau, an ode, a distinct perfume, a scent that is at once as distinctive as it is exquisite. It is the smell of the gutter after a long night, as the sun begins to break over the horizon. It is in the tatters, tears, and shreds of Richard Hell backstage, or piercing gaze of Man Ray through one eye of his glasses. It is the blood and flesh, fashion and sex. It takes immediate effect, holding you in its gaze, its grasp, its grip. It is neither sentimental nor melancholy. It is as though all tomorrow’s parties live on in the world, in Makos’ photographs of the iconic New York underground.
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About the Author:
Christopher Makos is a world-renowned photographer known for his work in portraiture whose work has been exhibited at galleries and museums worldwide, appeared in 15-authored books, and in magazines internationally. Some of his previous books include Exhibitionism, a collaboration on studies of the male nude with Calvin Klein (Glitterati Incorporated, 2004); Equipose, unique portraiture of horses (Glitterati Incorporated, 2005); and Warhol in Context, which visually chronicles his unique access to this major artist during the 70s, 80s, and 90s (powerHouse, 2007); and most recently, Everything: The Black and White Monograph (Glitterati Incorporated, 2014).
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Miss Rosen’s Contribution:
Coordinated international publicity campaign including coverage in
Billboard, ELLE, Frontiers, lodown, Mother Jones, Photo District News,
Rolling Stone Italia, Seven/The Telegraph, and The Tatler, among others.
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PHOTOGRAPHY
HC, 128 pages; 8 x 12 inches, 128 pages, 70 b/w photographs
ISBN: 978-0-9891704-6-8, $50.00
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Photographs ©Christopher Makos
Courtesy of Glitterati Incorporated