Edited by Dagon James. Foreword by David Talbot. Afterword by Peter Frampton.
It has been said of Michael Zagaris’ photographic oeuvre that it is the “last untouched rock archive.” Zagaris was responsible for shooting everyone in the rock music scene in San Francisco in the 1970s and ’80s, including The Clash, Grateful Dead, Blondie, Sex Pistols, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Led Zeppelin, and many more.
Zagaris’ photographs are some of the best portraits of their kind. Because a lot of his work was taken for pleasure rather than pay, the vast majority of his archive has remained unseen until now. Total Excess is the complete anthology of his incredible rock photography. This is the first book in a series of collaborations between Reel Art Press and Zagaris.
Michael Zagaris (born 1945) grew up in the Central Valley of California. In 1967 he entered law school and also started working for Robert Kennedy as a speechwriter. The trauma of witnessing Kennedy’s assassination at close quarters propelled Zagaris away from politics and law and into photography, and he began covering rock music in San Francisco. He also captured some of the most vital counterculture figures of that period, including Billy Bowers, Divine, Peter Berlin, The Cockettes and Jim Carroll, who used one of Zagaris’ portraits for the cover of his book Basketball Diaries. In 1973 he began as a team photographer for the San Francisco 49ers, and the Oakland As in 1981, both of which he continues to shoot to this day. Zagaris lives in San Francisco.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Total Excess.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
V Magazine
Joseph Akel
Capturing the rock scene of the 1970s and '80s as it passed through his hometown of San Francisco, Zagaris's forthcoming title, Total Excess, includes candid portraits of some of music's greatest icons.
British Journal of Photography
Jacob Brookman
These are images of youthful exploration that attempt to take the viewer into the musical ensemble itself.
Vanity Fair
His photographs, one of the last, great unseen rock archives, are showcased in a new book, Total Excess, revealing some of the most candid moments of music’s greatest icons.
The Washington Post
Bronwen Latimer
To converse with photographer Michael Zagaris is to feel like a bubble inside a just poured Coca-Cola; your head jumps from story to story, happiness swirling around you.
The Guardian
Charlotte DeFazio
From Jim Morrison vomiting over his shoulder to Keith Moon handing him magic mushrooms, Michael Zagaris is not short on dinner-party anecdotes. His work as a photojournalist documents a wild time in music history, one that makes today’s antics seem rather tame in comparison.
The Week
Michael Zagaris is a polymath within a single discipline
BBC
Michael Zagaris didn't just snap the biggest names in '60s and '70s music, he lived the times as well.
CNN.com
Erik Alexander
‘Total Excess’ refers to the total access [Michael Zagaris] was given to these artists -- and the total excess he encountered along the way.
Time
Kenneth Bachor
Michael Zagaris has had an interesting trip, to say the least.
American Photo
Jack Crager
Zagaris enjoyed a Zelig-like presence on the 1970s rock scene, photographing everyone from the Grateful Dead to the Clash, Led Zeppelin to Blondie—often offstage with their guards down.
San Francisco Chronicle
Sam Whiting
Many photographers can capture a live performance. It takes guts and good timing to capture the shambles of a backstage trailer that Keith Moon had just trashed. And it takes patience to stick with Lou Reed all the way from Winterland Ballroom to the airport, to photograph him as he drops a coin into a news rack, enticed by the Chronicle headline “Hijackers Kill Hostages.
"Michael Zagaris is an American original, one of those chroniclers of our time with the intelligence, intuition, magical touch and sheer damn luck to always be in the right place in the right time," Salon founder David Talbot writes in Total Excess: Photographs by Michael Zagaris. "These were the days when rock giants strode the earth, and shared a joint with you in the park—when music deeply mattered, when it saved your soul. Z-Man was present at the creation, and he got it all on film." Featured photograph captures Jimmy Page onstage with Led Zeppelin in Oakland, 1977. It was one of the last two shows the band would play in America. See more Staff Favorite Holiday Gift Books here! continue to blog
These are serious times, and some of us are having a hard time feeling totally "up." So we turn to Total Excess, Reel Art Press' electrifying new collection of Michael Zagaris' rock photographs of the 70s and 80s. Mostly unpublished until now, they were taken for pleasure not for pay. Meaning: Zagaris really knew how to have a good time. Backstage and on stage, he captured The Clash, The Grateful Dead, David Bowie, Blondie, The Sex Pistols, Rolling Stones, Patti Smith, Lou Reed and The Who, not to mention walk-ons like Marlon Brando. To make it all the better, Zagaris contributes "the most unbelievable tales of debauchery and bad behavior," alongside the photographs. Featured photos are from a 1976 Oakland Coliseum show where the Grateful Dead opened for The Who. See more Holiday Gift Staff Picks here. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9.5 x 12 in. / 272 pgs / 30 color / 200 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $60.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $79 ISBN: 9781909526402 PUBLISHER: Reel Art Press AVAILABLE: 11/15/2016 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA ASIA AFR ME
Published by Reel Art Press. Edited by Dagon James. Foreword by David Talbot. Afterword by Peter Frampton.
It has been said of Michael Zagaris’ photographic oeuvre that it is the “last untouched rock archive.” Zagaris was responsible for shooting everyone in the rock music scene in San Francisco in the 1970s and ’80s, including The Clash, Grateful Dead, Blondie, Sex Pistols, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Led Zeppelin, and many more.
Zagaris’ photographs are some of the best portraits of their kind. Because a lot of his work was taken for pleasure rather than pay, the vast majority of his archive has remained unseen until now. Total Excess is the complete anthology of his incredible rock photography. This is the first book in a series of collaborations between Reel Art Press and Zagaris.
Michael Zagaris (born 1945) grew up in the Central Valley of California. In 1967 he entered law school and also started working for Robert Kennedy as a speechwriter. The trauma of witnessing Kennedy’s assassination at close quarters propelled Zagaris away from politics and law and into photography, and he began covering rock music in San Francisco. He also captured some of the most vital counterculture figures of that period, including Billy Bowers, Divine, Peter Berlin, The Cockettes and Jim Carroll, who used one of Zagaris’ portraits for the cover of his book Basketball Diaries. In 1973 he began as a team photographer for the San Francisco 49ers, and the Oakland As in 1981, both of which he continues to shoot to this day. Zagaris lives in San Francisco.
