State of the Blues: Photographs by Jeff Dunas - Softcover

Dunas, Jeff; Hooker, John Lee; Ferris, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0893818437 ISBN 13: 9780893818432

Publisher: Aperture, 2005

Synopsis

First Time In Paperback "The Blues is the roots of all music. It’s the roots . . . Blues has been here since the world was born. Once there was women and men loving each other and breaking up, that’s the blues." —John Lee Hooker, from the Preface Jeff Dunas’s stirring tribute to the power of the blues, this volume presents a series of intimate portraits of and interviews with the greatest blues performers of our time, including B. B. King, Koko Taylor, John Lee Hooker, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Bonnie Raitt, and many others.

About this title

Synopsis:

State of the Blues is photographer Jeff Dunas's stirring tribute to the power of the blues, an American tradition that has its roots in the Mississippi Delta and branches that have spread around the world. One of the most vital early expressions of African-American culture, blues music makes poetry of sorrow and finds humour and bitter irony in the hardships of life. It tells of love lost and regained, and of the fight for dignity in a world that judges people by the colour of their skin. Alongside a series of intimate portraits of the greatest blues performers of our time including BB King, Koko Taylor, John Lee Hooker, Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, Bonnie Raitt and many others, the book presents Dunas' timeless photographs of the landmarks and byways of the blues highway - a heritage trail through the American South that leads from New Orleans to Chicago, where the blues continues to thrive today. Interviews that Dunas conducted with a number of the performers shed light on the origins and the future of the blues tradition. An introduction to State of the Blues by noted scholar William Ferris provides the cultural and historical context for Dunas' remarkable photographs.

A preface by legendary blues performer John Lee Hooker sets the stage for this unprecedented look at the state of the blues.

About the Author:

Jeff Dunas has published his photographs in several major magazines, including GQ, Life, Vibe, Entertainment Weekly, and Esquire. Based in Los Angeles, Dunas has been photographing blues legends since 1994.

About this edition

• Publisher: Aperture
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0893818437
• ISBN 13: 9780893818432
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176