Personal Vision

The first monograph on the work of this pre-eminent African-American photographer. Appeals to buyers of books on Gordon Parks, Carrie Mae Weems, Anthony Barboza, Eli Reed. Adger is an African-American cultural icon. Master American photographer Adger Cowan's predominantly black-and-white photography is collected in this monograph of original images taken over the past 40 years. Personal Vision follows Cowans' photographic evolution from Navy photographer to apprentice of the great Gordon Parks to the history-shaping documenter of 1960s Harlem to a high-profile Hollywood portrait photographer with a larger-than-life clientele list, including Al Pacino, Jane Fonda, Katherine Hepburn, and Mick Jagger. Cowans' images embody 1960s documentary style, street journalism, portraiture and self-portrayals, still-lifes, and experimental work. Personal Vision captures the evolution and expansive talent of a single photographer who had access to worlds as diverse as African American street life and high-fashion models and Hollywood stars.