Christopher Makos Presents His Latest Book 'Everything: The Black And White Monograph'

Christopher Makos Presents His Latest Book 'Everything: The Black And White Monograph'.

Everything: The Black and White Monograph is a retrospective of three decades in photographer Christopher Makos’ illustrious career. Weighing in at 352 pages, with 248 photographs, Everything is printed in quadrotone for the richest, most effective reproduction of Makos’ black and white work. Included here are iconic Makos images of Georgia O’Keefe, Halston, Liza Minelli, John Lennon, Tennessee Williams, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lou Reed, Andy Warhol, Elizabeth Taylor, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Pedro Almodóvar, Marilyn Chambers, Mick Jagger, as well as many never-before-published images of Vanna White, Erté, Quentin Crisp, Queen Elizabeth II, Michael Jackson, just to name but a few.

“Pictures prove that I have a life. It’s an amazing life whether it was flying back and forth to Paris on the Concorde, or flying with Malcolm Forbes to Istanbul, riding around on motorcycles, or going to Russia on Calvin Klein’s plane. I don’t look back—sure, I love memories. Nostalgia has a place and sometimes a certain song or a certain picture will evoke something that will take you into that world. But for me, the most important moment is the moment that I’m experiencing right now, in front of the camera with you.” —Christopher Makos

In his early years, Christopher Makos traveled widely in Europe, spending time with Man Ray during the great artist’s last birthday celebrations in Fregene, Italy. The master took a special interest in the brash young American and spent the day speaking of a life in photography. Photographs from their day together appear in Everything: The Black and White Monograph, a retrospective of three decades in Makos’ illustrious career.

The oldest photograph in the book was a taken in 1973. It is a single foot set bare upon the beach in Ditch Plains, Montauk, New York. The journey of a thousand miles had begun. The result is Everything, a wide-ranging survey of his black and white work (many images published here for the first time) that can be seen as a photo-biography, if you will. Here are portraits, landscapes, nudes, snapshots, studio shots, cars, dogs, horses, from Fire Island to Ascot, Mallorca to Moscow, Morocco to Puerta Vallarta, Giza to Palm Springs. Everything stands as a record of the restless, globetrotting life Makos has led, always with camera in hand.

Weighing in at 352 pages, with 248 photographs, Everything is printed in quadrotone for the richest, most effective reproduction of Makos’ black and white work. Included here are iconic Makos images of Georgia O’Keefe, Halston, Liza Minelli, John Lennon, Tennessee Williams, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lou Reed, Andy Warhol, Elizabeth Taylor, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Pedro Almodóvar, Marilyn Chambers, Mick Jagger, as well as many never-before-published images of Vanna White, Erté, Quentin Crisp, Queen Elizabeth II, Michael Jackson, just to name a few.

Everything has detailed backmatter, including comments by former Makos assistants, and a complete Makos bibliography, list of exhibitions and collections. Beyond its essential value to photography enthusiasts and scholars, Everything is a beautiful monograph that will appeal to anyone who loves photography and appreciates well-crafted illustrated books.

Makos reveals, “I love photography because it’s like being a psychotherapist. When I photograph people it’s so interesting to see their responses and their reactions. You often have to calm them down or bring them to a place that is comfortable for them and for you to capture them. People often say that when they come to my studio I put them at ease, at least enough to let their authentic inner personality shine. It is this interaction between me and my subject that I enjoy so much. I like doing portraits of people because it is intimate, it is singular, just between me and the subject matter, not like photographing crowd shots and all that.”