powerHouse press kit 2009

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EstablishEd 2006

Some people ask me why I make books, in my case illustrated volumes of photography and the photographicimage. To some I say: we dont know any better, and to others lament: its the only thing we know how to do.But truth be told, its our native human desire to tell stories, to help others tell them.

So how do those of us with such limited practical aptitude or knowledge of smarter things to do with our lives,and scarce monies?

We get lucky.

Yes, getting lucky is the great success secret of publishing; friend-of-friends, neighbors, romantic entanglements,happenstance, and most importantly, kismet are the foundations of some of the most successful publishinglists and individual titles we know today. In publishing, inevitably, something will happen. You just have to besmart enough to recognize it and good enough to do something with it.

powerHouse Books, the world-renowned and critically acclaimed publisher, is best known for its diversepublishing programspecialized in ne art, documentary, pop culture, fashion, and celebrity books. We haveblazed a trail through the staid book publishing industry, releasing books that have sparked cultural trendsand redened commonly held perceptions of the purpose and role of art books in contemporary culture. Whilemuch is known of our books, little is known of the people who have made powerHouse Books a global name.

Founder and Publisher Daniel Power got his start at Stuart Brent Books, a now-defunct bookstore in Chicago.He quickly became Store Manager and the lunch companion of Stuart Brent, Chicagos most famous and idio-syncratic bookseller. In late 1987, he was hired by George Braziller and moved to New York City.

37 Main Street Brooklyn, NY 11201-1021 tel 212 604 9074 fax 212 365 5247 e-mail info@powerHouseBooks

powerHouse Books is a division of powerHouse Cultural Entertainment, Inc.

Daniel Power, Founder and Publisher, powerHouse Books

thebehindthescenesstoryof

EstablishEd 1995

Five months later, he moved on to the Aperture Foundation, working in sales and marketing. After 18 monthsof enlightening frustration, Power moved on again to part-time gigs with bothArtforum andParkettmagazine.In early 1990, Power met Sharon Gallagher, and along with the Parkettteam formeddistribution consortium D.A.P.

Power left D.A.P. at the end of 1994 and started powerHouse Books. His rst release, Jack PiersonsAll ofa Sudden, was an artists book. It did very well, and I thought, hey, this is easy, Power recalls. Then I did myrst ground-up book,Red Light: Inside the Sex Industry, and while successful, it proved to be a lot moredifcult than I anticipated.


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Sensing the need for either a sounding board or a padded cell, Power opted for the former and allowed CraigCohen to join the mayhem in 1996.

The early years had Power and Cohen tag-teaming on a few books at a time, raising the bar each season until,in 1998, powerHouse Books had its rst best-seller, Women Before 10 A.M. by Vronique Vial, and followedup that success in 1999 with the critically acclaimed cult monographsX-Rayby Franois Nars andLife is Paradiseby Francesco Clemente and Vincent Katz.

In 2000, Cohen became a partner in the company, with the title of Vice President and Associate Publisher. Hequickly signed up the next company bestseller,Back in the Days by Jamel Shabazz, and made a deal withCapitol Records to produce theBeastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science. For me, these twoprojects dened our ability to break out of the publishing curve, observes Cohen. Back in the Daysvirtuallysingle-handedly revived the old-school hip hop genre, and our Capitol Records deal showed that we could playwith the big boys and perform at the highest level.

With the publishing program growing rapidly, Power and Cohen hired Sara Rosen as Publicity Director in2000. She instantly established a stellar rep in the industry: A vivacious and creative Miss Rosen bringsthe ruckus with her innovative promotional campaigns highlighting powerHouses creative visions, commentsJanene Outlaw at The New York Times. She is the Truth!

In addition to handling publicity, promotions, and marketing, Rosen was Project Manager forAutograf: New

York Citys Grafti Writers by Peter Sutherland (now in its third printing), and started her imprint, MissRosen Editions, in Fall 2005, with powerHouse Books. Her titles includeIts All Goodby Boogie,BombshellThe Life and Crimes of Claw Money, andBears by Kent Rogowski.The brain trust of powerHouse Books was now set, and the company has since redened the cultural landscapeof the illustrated book, the only U.S. independent publishing company to do so.

New York September 11 by Magnum Photographers was a visceral, instant document by Magnum and pH,the best thing a publishing company and a photo agency could do to help the city and the country bothremember and recover (Giulianis famous response to the terrorist attack was for New-Yorkers get back todoing what they normally do as quickly as possible); the book went on to sell some 300,000 copies worldwide,enabling powerHouse Books to donate over $600,000 to the New York Times 9/11 Neediest Fund.

In 2002, pH partnered with Nike to publish Sole Provider: 30 Years of Nike Basketball, a history of theirfamous sneaker line; the book sold out in a record one week. The relationships weve been able to form withcorporate partners for branding and packaging have been one of the keys to our success over the past fewyears, says Cohen, who worked with the The Gap to secure their promotional support for Alice Harris bookThe Blue Jean, as well as Olympus and Aveda for support of Patrick McMullans 2004 bookInTents. Morerecent deals include partnerships with international diamond titan De Beers for Alice Harris second pH book,The Wedding Album, Puma for The African Game, Ultimate Fighting Championship for Octagon, BurtonSnowboards for28 Day Winter, Glamour forIn Search of Hope, and Urban Outtters for the new series ofpH Classics.

37 Main Street Brooklyn, NY 11201-1021 tel 212 604 9074 fax 212 365 5247 e-mail info@powerHouseBooks.



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powerHouse Books has had immense critical, as well as commercial success, for a wide variety of books: GuyOsearysMadonna Confessions , Kevin RobertsLovemarks: the future beyond brands, LeRoy NeimansThe LeRoy Neiman Sketchbook: 1964 Liston vs. Clay1965 Ali vs. Liston, Helen Levitts Crosstown,Franois NarsMakeup Your Mind, Ron GalellasDisco Years, Jim JocoysPhil Stern: A Lifes Work, JeffBridges Pictures (with Herter Studio), Patrick McMullansso8os, and Mike and Doug Starns

Attracted to Light(a Blind Spot Book).

powerHouse Books has brass cojones to publish the material they do, observes Arlene Gottfried, author ofMidnight, a collection of portraits spanning two decades in the life of her friend Midnight, a paranoid schizophrenic.powerHouse has also published books on adult infantilism (The Babies by Polly Borland), the aging malenude (A BodyandBody Parts by John Coplans), government repression in Guatemala (Our Culture Is Our

Resistance by Jonathan Moller), the Talibanbefore anyone had ever heard of them (Afghanistan Diary19922000by Edward Grazda), youth crime (Juvenileand East Side Stories: Gang Life in East L.A. byJoseph Rodriguez), and the homeless (Sidewalk Stories by Salvo Galano), among many other challengingsubjects.

In addition to taking on hardcore subject matter, pH has also taken the companys public persona to the next

level by opening a gallery and bookstore. Being naturally thrifty, Power reveals, I saved up enough to moveour 950-square foot cubby hole at 180 Varick Street to a sumptuous new 5,000-square foot space around thecorner, at 68 Charlton Street, in the then up-and-coming Hudson Square area of lower Manhattan.

In its rst incarnation, The powerHouse Gallery & Bookstore, designed by Scott Koniecko, occupied thefront 1,500-square feet of the ofce space in the Hudson Square. An area described by The New Yorkeras...a still-lonely section of West SoHo where grunge (UPS shipping depot) coexists with glamour (multimillion-dollar apartments)...This neighborhood has an appealingly motley heritage...

The powerHouse Gallery & Bookstore proved a spectacular space for exhibitions and special events. JohnCohen, author of There is No Eye and Young Bob, commented that the maiden event hosted at the spacereminded him of the parties held in the bohemian Greenwich Village of the 1960s.

Susanne Knig became the director of The powerHouse Gallery upon its opening in 2003. The powerHouseGallery hosted exhibitions for established and upcoming artists to launch their books with powerHouse,including Judy Chicago, Charles Peterson, Larry Fink, David Yellen, Christopher Grifth, LeRoy Neiman,Martha Cooper, Christopher Makos, Jamel Shabazz, Janette Beckman, Ricky Powell, Ron Galella, StevenKatzman, Helen Levitt, and Thomas Roma.

In 2005, pH launched its rst foray into photography and publishing services by offering seasonal portfolioreviews at The powerHouse Gallery and bringing together industry professionals from book and magazinepublishing, galleries, and agencies, as well as powerHouse Books artists, to critique the work of non-profes-sional photographers in a traditional portfolio review setting. During that summer, powerHouse Books providedin-depth insight and expertise in a series of publishing workshops at The powerHouse Gallery, focusing on

editorial, design, production, and promotion for aspiring authors.

Eventually, the rat-infested neighborhood became too muchthat is, the human variety of rat, the new netleaseholders of the 68 Charlton Street location in particularso in March 2006 pH decamped to a new outpost,37 Main Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn, and in the process launched a laboratory for creative thought, exhibitions,installations, presentations, displays, viewings, performances, readings, and retail therapyall drawing uponphotography and popular culture as sources of inspiration.

37 Main Street Brooklyn, NY 11201-1021 tel 212 604 9074 fax 212 365 5247 e-mail info@powerHouseBooks.



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Ive always dreamt that we would inhabit an inspirational spacea space where classical architecture mixeswith vaulted ceilings and height to emphasize the nobility of mans loftier pursuits of knowledge and pleasure.Nothing in any borough comes close to the feeling that comes from our new space, save for Grand CentralStation, says Power. The general vibe of DUMBO is what certain places in Manhattan felt like decades ago;the East Village and SoHo in the late 80s, Hudson Square in the 90s. In DUMBO, questions and possibilitiesabound; this will be a perfect place to situate a laboratory of thought, which is what powerHouse intends to do.

In October 2006, The powerHouse Arena opened: a 10,200-square foot marquee showroom and retail spaceunlike any other in New York City, featuring a soaring 24-foot ceiling on the 5,000-square foot ground oor,and an equally impressive 5,200-square foot mezzaninewith over 175 feet of glass frontage combined. This

incredible new venue was designed by the esteemed archetectural rm David Howell Design.

powerHouse Books was selected for the 37 Main Street space by Two Trees Management Co., which ownsmost of DUMBO (short for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). The companys holdings include 13buildings and the second-largest portfolio of commercial space on the Brooklyn waterfront, which totals 3million-square feet in size.

Were excited to welcome powerHouse to our DUMBO community, said Jed Walentas, a partner in Two

Trees Management. The addition of this bookstore/creative laboratory brings us closer to the vision we havefor DUMBOan intoxicating lifestyle and environment where people can live, work, shop, and play.

Power says this is merely the beginning. Weve only just gotten the place, and it has already paid numerousdividends in the form of future cultural collaborations with the citys leading arts entities and our corporate part-ners, including the most dynamic and innovative agencies out there. The future is white hot, and the possibili-ties grow themselves.

In early 2007, the powerHouse Arena Skylounge was born: a second gallery, located on the mezzanine, featur-ing a selection of images from powerHouse limited editions and a rotating series of exhibitions. Then the Fall of2007, the powerHouse Arena launched Windows on Main: The powerHouse boilerRoom, a new gallery, utiliz-ing 250-square feet of window space on the Arenas Main Street side. Visible from the street level, the boiler-Room is open to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, allowing exhibiting artists maximum visibility to theneighborhoods vibrant arts community. boilerRoom exhibitions combine a mlange of ne art, commercialwork, retail products, advertising, and other forms of dynamic visual ephemera. It would seem the sky is trulythe limit for the powerHouse enterprise.

For more information, please contact Sara Rosen, Publicity DirectorpowerHouse Books, 37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Tel: 212-604-9074 x105, Fax: 212-366-5247, email: [email protected]

37 Main Street Brooklyn, NY 11201-1021 tel 212 604 9074 fax 212 365 5247 e-mail [email protected]



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For more information, please contact Sara Rosen, Publicity DirectorpowerHouse Books, 37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Tel: 212-604-9074 x105, Fax: 212-366-5247, email: [email protected]

Brooklyn, NY 11201-1021 tel 212 604 9074 fax 212 365 5247 e-mail [email protected]

owerHouse Books is a division of powerHouse Cultural Entertainment, Inc.

Daniel Power runs powerHouse Books the way all publishers should: with personal care, notes MyriamSantos-Kayda, author ofDavid Bowie: Live in New York. About putting out books with something to say.About books with guts. About books with personality. It was a pleasure working with the whole team.

The dedicated staff of powerHouse Books also includes Kiki Bauer, Production Director and Art DirectorsClub Award-winning designer ofA Bodyby John Coplans; Mine Suda, Senior Designer; Wes Del Val, VP,Sales; Will Luckman, Managing Editor; Craig Mathis, Arena Events Manager; Tami Mnoian, PR/Marketing

Associate; Orkan Benli, Designer; Chaz Requina, Director of New Media; and Nathan Brown, Arena Manager.

Nows the time for powerHouse Books to be declared a national treasure, declares Marvin Heiferman ofLookout Books, author ofLove Is Blindand packager of Clown Paintings by Diane Keaton. In a publishingclimate driven by uninspired salesmen and marketers, and in contrast to one-note publishers content to crankout a safe and predictable product, powerHouse takes risks, pushes boundaries, supports fresh talent, andnurtures an ongoing dialog between images and ideas. How can you beat that?


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powerHouse Press

Main Street Brooklyn, NY 11201-1021 tel 212 604 9074 fax 212 365 5247 e-mail [email protected]



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powerHouse press kit 2009

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