Picturing Prince: An Intimate Portrait

This touching love letter to Prince is as simple and as overwhelming as the multi-faceted relationship that photographer/artist Steve Parke beautifully presents to us. Prince was a force of nature, and Parke was lucky enough to share 13 extraordinary years with a man who remained somewhat of a mystery to most. Little treasured stories about working with Prince, accompanied by gorgeous photographs, are gifted to the reader, and the full force of these years of anecdotes is a very emotional ride...I smiled, cried, laughed out loud and felt an even deeper love for Prince which I didn't think was possible. The book is unique because Steve Parke is special, and the stories he tells come from a place of deep love, respect and great admiration for the icon who he could call a friend. A good photographer serves his subject well with great lighting, a comfortable atmosphere, an authentic approach...all in an effort to reveal an honest, beautiful portrait that is compelling. Parke does this over and over and over again in this book that you wish would never end. JAlythia

If you are a Prince fan then this is a book for you. Beautiful pictures but also wonderful stories throughout that i have loved to read. Prince was an amazing artist and person!! This book brings him to life.

"Picturing Prince" is a gorgeous photo-book that manages to perfectly capture the beauty (inside and out) of the amazing artist, Prince. The photographs are stunning (many never seen before) and show the playful, contemplative, serious, and (of course) sexy side of His Royal Badness. Just as Steve Parke's photos highlight Prince's beautiful exterior (body, clothes, set), his personal stories highlight the artist's beautiful interior (his hard work ethic, his playful personality, and his generosity). Steve's stories about Prince are not just the run-of-the-mill stories that someone has heard second-hand from someone who knew Prince! Rather, his stories are personal and told from the viewpoint of someone who wasn't only Prince's employee but also a friend! If you are a Prince fan, I'm sure you will find the stories heartwarming, funny, and a peek into Prince's personality - something his fans have been waiting for a long time to hear! If you love Prince (as I do), do yourself a favor and get this gorgeous photo-book! If the pictures don't win you over, I'm sure Steve's great stories will!

Beautiful quality book and photos at an excellent price. Drop-dead, jaw-dropping gorgeous, dreamy photos that I look at over and over. Steve's stories are personal, intimate and fun to read. The story of the rickety stool is priceless! He captures the essence, beauty (inner as well as outer), charm and spirit of Prince in so many different settings and various looks. He worked with Prince for many years as his art director and then his photographer and knew him well. I will treasure this forever, my favorite of the Prince photo books. It includes a very touching forward by Shiela E. too. It's obvious how much they both loved and gave to and received from Prince. This is like a treasure chest that I open with wonder and joy again and again. Thank you, Steve, for sharing your relationship, stories and exceptional work with us and for keeping our beloved Prince alive in our hearts.

Absolutely spellbinding. The photos are gorgeous and I especially enjoyed reading the authors stories and takeaways from working for Prince. **PRN Alumni Foundation is a non profit formed by former Prince employees with the mission to continue Prince's philanthropy. Prince gave millions without fanfare to social justice causes, community gardens, food banks, the medical bills of fellow musicians and employees, libraries, historic theaters you name it. If you enjoy hearing about what it was like being around Prince and how his dreams were manifested, support the PRN Alumni Foundation. They hold panel discussions as part of their fundraising, with former employees and they are wildly interesting and entertaining. PRNAlumni.org

Awesome book!!! For any hard prince fan this is a great collection piece

The pictures are beautiful, exquisite and some I have never seen: I’m a Hugh fan. I love reading the stories and getting an inside look in the Purple One’s life (even if it’s just a little look.) A job well done! I would give five stars/ but I just didn’t like seeing pictures of his ex wife in there -even if it’s just a few.

Bought this as a gift for my boss who is a huge Prince fan. He loves this book!

Un très beau livre rédigé en anglais où Steve Parke,qui fut directeur artistique de Prince de 1988 à 2001 nous raconte son quotidien au côté de la star à paisley park,sur une thématique intime construite à l'aide de petite histoires et d'anecdotes,le tout,accompagné de belles photos prises par l'auteur lui-même.J'ai adoré ce livre.

Pure Prince passion here love it ... wanted this book forever ... Prince fans a must have u will not be disappointed..... I 💜🥂

Dreizehn Jahre lang war Steve Parke kreativ für Prince tätig. Egal ob es um die Gestaltung von Showbühnen, die Dekoration und Wandbemalung von Paisley Park ging oder ob Plattencover oder Tour-Programme erdacht werden mussten - Steve Parke war der Mann, der eine Woche pro Monat direkt in Princes Studio arbeitete - und das gerne mal mehrere Nächte lang hintereinander. Neben den Design-Jobs wurde Parke auch häufig von Prince als Fotograf verpflichtet und hat damals auch die ersten Schritte in Photoshop für den Star unternommen. Knapp ein Jahr nach dem Tod von Prince Rogers Nelson hat Parke nun ein Buch seiner Foto-Arbeiten zusammengestellt und unter dem Titel "Picturing Prince" herausgegeben. Er stellt neben zahlreiche ganz- oder doppelseitige Fotos immer wieder Erinerungsfragmente, berichtet von den langen Nächten, von Autofahrten mit Prince, bei der ihm der Musiker neue Songs vorspielte, von Jams auf den Paisley-Park-Bühnen, und von den regemäßigen Besuchen Princes in Parkes Büro. Sehr viel neues erfährt der Fan hier nicht, von Princes Privatleben wird kaum etwas preisgegeben. Dafür sind die Fotos umso sehenswerter. Es gibt beispielsweise Outtakes des Shootings für das "Rave un2 the joy fantastic"-Album zu sehen, Prince mit seiner Symbol-Gitarre, und auch einige Fotos, in denen der Musiker sagen wir mal gewöhnungsbedürftige Outfits (wie beispielsweise einen roten Flokati-Hut) trägt. Einen sehr intimen und herzzerreißenden Moment teilt Parke im letzten Drittel des Fotobuches dann doch mit den Fans. Er hat nämlich eine Foto-Sesssion mit Prince auf dem Spielplatz des Paisley-Park-Geländes veranstaltet und einige Fotos hiervon finden sich auch in "Picturing Prince". Der Spielplatz wurde ursprünglich für den Sohn von Prince und Mayte, seiner ersten Ehefrau, erbaut, doch der Junge verstarb kurz nach der Geburt. Parke berichtet, dass Prince nun den Spielplatz für Kinder von Mitarbeiter*innen freigegeben hatte. Die Bilder und der Blick Princes kurz nach dem Verlust des Sohnes sind berührend. "Picturing Prince" bietet tolle, großteils bisher noch unveröffentlichte Bilder von Princes offiziellem Fotografen. Private Schnappschüsse sucht man zwischen den Buchdeckeln vergebens, es handelt sich bei allen Bildern um inszenierte Promo-Fotos im weitesten Sinne. Das Buch verfügt über ein ungewöhnliches Cover: Der obere Fototeil wurde auf glänzendes glattes Papier gedruckt, welches auf den türkisfarbenen festen Einband aufgeklebt wurde. Im Gegensatz zum Produktbild ist die Titel-Typo der mir vorliegenden UK-Ausgabe von Octopussbooks mit silbernem Lack geprägt. "Picturing Prince" versammelt zahlreiche sehenswerte Fotos von Prince. Somit ist das Buch jedem Fan wärmstens ans Herz zu legen und bekommt von mir fünf Sterne.

I wasn't sure about this book to begin with, when just glancing through the pictures which felt filtered or manipulated, but it only took a few pages for me to be completely hooked. Steve Parke provides such detailed and vivid memories of his time with Prince, the photos just seemed to compliment them. I loved this glimpse into life at Paisley Park and also Steve's friendship with Prince, which seemed so personal and yet he still revered him as a music idol too. He presented this juxtaposition and the surreal feeling of working for/with him really well in the moments he chose to share with us, the reader. I had higher hopes for Sheila E's foreword, hoping to catch a glimpse of her time with Prince, but it was very devoid of anything personal, just a summation of how the world felt about his passing. The only thing I would have liked was an index of the photos with dates & album/location reference. The index in this book seemed very odd to me and not at all fitting with the rest of it. Having also read 'Prince: A Private View' by Afshin Shahidi just before this one, I see how they complement each other, with Steve's time being before Afshin's.

Some never before seen images in this collection.