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Man in the Mirror: Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, was a superstar of unprecedented and epic proportions, and is still the bestselling recording artist of all time.
An icon raised in the spotlight, but ever reclusive and terribly shy, Jackson was the ideal subject for paparazzo extraordinaire Ron Galella, the nation’s most famous celebrity photojournalist. Galella shot Michael from his early days in the Jackson 5 right up to the weeks before his untimely death. Finding intimate moments with the legend offstage, he captured candid, beautiful, unguarded portraits of the man behind the mask and a lifetime of style and glamour.
Over the years Galella also captured Michael in the company of fellow celebrities—drawn, like Galella himself, to the biggest and brightest star of them all—including Muhammad Ali, Diana Ross, Chuck Berry, Brooke Shields, Jane Fonda, Liberace, Quincy Jones, Barry Manilow, Emmanuel Lewis, Liza Minnelli, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Sophia Loren, Sylvester Stallone, Ted Kennedy, Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston, Donald Trump, Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna, and Marcel Marceau. He was able to find the personal side of Michael in images of him with his children, his sister Janet and the rest of the Jackson family, and even his pet chimpanzee, Bubbles.
In a tribute to the life and memory of Michael Jackson, Galella has compiled his comprehensive body of images of the King of Pop for the first time ever in Man in the Michael Jackson.
An icon raised in the spotlight, but ever reclusive and terribly shy, Jackson was the ideal subject for paparazzo extraordinaire Ron Galella, the nation’s most famous celebrity photojournalist. Galella shot Michael from his early days in the Jackson 5 right up to the weeks before his untimely death. Finding intimate moments with the legend offstage, he captured candid, beautiful, unguarded portraits of the man behind the mask and a lifetime of style and glamour.
Over the years Galella also captured Michael in the company of fellow celebrities—drawn, like Galella himself, to the biggest and brightest star of them all—including Muhammad Ali, Diana Ross, Chuck Berry, Brooke Shields, Jane Fonda, Liberace, Quincy Jones, Barry Manilow, Emmanuel Lewis, Liza Minnelli, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Sophia Loren, Sylvester Stallone, Ted Kennedy, Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston, Donald Trump, Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna, and Marcel Marceau. He was able to find the personal side of Michael in images of him with his children, his sister Janet and the rest of the Jackson family, and even his pet chimpanzee, Bubbles.
In a tribute to the life and memory of Michael Jackson, Galella has compiled his comprehensive body of images of the King of Pop for the first time ever in Man in the Michael Jackson.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published December 29, 2009
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About the author
Ron Galella
28 books11 followersWidely regarded as the most famous and most controversial celebrity photographer in the world—he's been dubbed “Paparazzo Extraordinaire” by Newsweek, and “the Godfather of U.S. paparazzi culture” by Time and Vanity Fair—Galella is clearly willing to take great risks to get the perfect shot. As a result, Ron has endured two highly publicized court battles with Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, a broken jaw at the hands of Marlon Brando, and a serious beating by Richard Burton’s bodyguards before being jailed in Cuernavaca, Mexico. But ultimately, it is his passion for the fine art of photography, coupled with a dedicated do-it-yourself approach to his craft—few artists can claim his level of skill in making their own prints—that sees Ron's body of work exhibited at museums and galleries throughout the world. The Museum of Modern Art New York and San Francisco, the Tate Modern in London, and the Helmut Newton Foundation Museum of Photography in Berlin, among many others, all maintain collections of Galella's iconic works.
Ron's passion for photojournalism has also given rise to many highly acclaimed photo-art books, including Disco Years (PowerHouse Books), which was honored as Best Photography Book of 2006 by The New York Times. Recently, Galella made the transition to moving film with Smash His Camera, a documentary of his life and career by Oscar-winning director Leon Gast (When We Were Kings, 1996). Premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, Smash His Camera received the Grand Jury Award for Directing in the U.S. Documentary category. The film was also well-received at the 54th BFI London Film Festival prior to airing on the BBC throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.
Tantamount to his recognition at home and in Northern Europe, the government of Basilicata graciously honored Ron—whose father, Vincenzo, was born in Muro Lucano—by making him an honorary citizen of the Italian region in 2009. Basilicata concurrently opened Ron Galella: Italian Icons, a traveling exhibit of over 70 of Ron’s photos, at Palazzo Lanfranchi’s Carlo Levi Hall in Matera, and in conjunction with the opening, Ron launched Viva l’Italia!—a collection of over 225 images of Italian and Italian-American celebrities from Frank Sinatra to Sophia Loren.
A native New Yorker now residing in Montville, New Jersey, Ron served as a United States Air Force photographer during the Korean conflict before attending the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, where he earned a degree in Photojournalism.
Ron's passion for photojournalism has also given rise to many highly acclaimed photo-art books, including Disco Years (PowerHouse Books), which was honored as Best Photography Book of 2006 by The New York Times. Recently, Galella made the transition to moving film with Smash His Camera, a documentary of his life and career by Oscar-winning director Leon Gast (When We Were Kings, 1996). Premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, Smash His Camera received the Grand Jury Award for Directing in the U.S. Documentary category. The film was also well-received at the 54th BFI London Film Festival prior to airing on the BBC throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.
Tantamount to his recognition at home and in Northern Europe, the government of Basilicata graciously honored Ron—whose father, Vincenzo, was born in Muro Lucano—by making him an honorary citizen of the Italian region in 2009. Basilicata concurrently opened Ron Galella: Italian Icons, a traveling exhibit of over 70 of Ron’s photos, at Palazzo Lanfranchi’s Carlo Levi Hall in Matera, and in conjunction with the opening, Ron launched Viva l’Italia!—a collection of over 225 images of Italian and Italian-American celebrities from Frank Sinatra to Sophia Loren.
A native New Yorker now residing in Montville, New Jersey, Ron served as a United States Air Force photographer during the Korean conflict before attending the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, where he earned a degree in Photojournalism.
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October 14, 2015
its a great book for someone to read and it really could help somebody out if they were doing a project on him. When I first read the book I was already stuck in it like when you are play tug a war with your family and friends and your family is getting pulled that's how it felt when I was reading the book
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