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Tarfumes.com - I'll Be Watching You: Inside the Police, 1980-83
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List Price: $39.99
Our Price: $26.39
Your Save: $ 13.60 ( 34% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Taschen
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 770
EAN: 9783822813058
Format: Illustrated
ISBN: 3822813052
Label: Taschen
Manufacturer: Taschen
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 375
Publication Date: 2007-09-15
Publisher: Taschen
Studio: Taschen
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Editorial Reviews:
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Nice Price Edition Available Fall 2008 In the early 1980s, The Police went on tour accompanied by a photographer who documented the band behind the scenes in a series of candid and striking black and white photos. This talented photographer also happened to be the band's guitarist, Andy Summers. Yes, it's true?the man responsible for the guitar lick from ?Every Breath You Take? was not only the backbone of one of the most popular bands of all time, he also possessed a visual gift for composition and mood that allowed him to capture the spirit of The Police better than anyone else could have. This book, somewhere between photojournalism and an illustrated diary, follows The Police around the globe between 1980 and 1983. From the American West to Australia to Japan, Summers recorded not only the band members rehearsing and partying?the proverbial sex, drugs, and rock and roll?he also photographed fans, landscapes, still lifes, and passersby in a reportage style reminiscent of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank. Containing over 600 photos and filled with diary-style entries, I?ll Be Watching You is a sumptuous volume beating with musical energy, nostalgia, and atmospheric beauty. A must for photo buffs and Police fans alike. ? Contains over 600 photographs personally selected from the photographer's archive of over 25,000 thousand negatives (1980-83) ? Most photos are previously unpublished, and many of them have never even been printed prior to this project
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: You Gotta Be a Fan for This One
Comment: The Police were far and away my favorite band when I was growing up. I recently had a chance to see the last show in their reunion tour at Madison Square Garden, which reminded me again how each of the three members of the group are excellent musicians in their own right. Sting may have had more fame in the intervening years, but Stewart Copeland's drumming is magnificent to behold and Andy Summer's guitar work help define the sound of the band. There is nothing like the three of them together.
So, sitting in the middle of this perfect storm of nostalgia, I decided to take a look at this collection of Mr. Summers' photographs so I could spend some more time in those early years of the `80's. A couple years back, I had read Mr. Summers' autobiography, One Train Later, and enjoyed it quite a lot. I am also familiar with his other photo collection, Throb, which I also liked. Unfortunately, this book didn't quite live up to either of those.
In some ways, this book is a strange amalgamation of those other two books. There are a number of brief informational/autobiographical blurbs with the photos. But the blurbs don't really tell us much and, in the end, neither do the photos. Unlike photos designed to stand alone as art, these are meant to tell a story but, in the end, they don't seem to do that. Certainly, for someone not interested in or somewhat knowledgeable about the band, they would say almost nothing.
Still, there are some good shots here. It's clear to see that Mr. Summers is at the beginning of developing a real talent. I particularly liked the wide shots of some of the arenas they played and Andy's more "private" hotel room pictures. But you have to sift through a lot of stuff to find those jewels. For someone not really invested in the band, it would be too much work.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I'll Be Watching You: Inside the Police, 1980-83
Comment: Photography and music together in the record of one of the greatest rock bands of the world. An excellent book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Truly Insider's View of the World of the Police
Comment: Even though I have five exhibition prints from this book hanging on my home's walls, I'm still somewhat amazed at how good a photographer Andy Summers really is. While it's always been my feeling that an artist can have great talent in more than one discipline, Andy is a true Renaissance man. He is famous for his music as part of the popular band "Police," he is also a wonderful writer as well has a super sensitive photographer. His autobiography is also fascinating and a must read for fans of the Police!
With the same passion that he puts into his guitar music, Andy also provides an intimate view of just what it was like to tour with the Police in the years 1980-1983. This Taschen Coffee Table Photographic book is large format 375 pages chuck full of brilliant B&W pictures. Despite what most fans would imagine, being a member of the group made the picture taking more difficult than if a non-member of the band was doing it. When the world is pressing in on you from all directions and crying out to touch you, it's difficult enough just to survive. Having the presence of mind to photograph those adoring fans even as they attempt to smoother you with their love is a skill in and of itself.
My personal favorites from the more than 600 images included in the book included a picture of a smiling Sting in Japan. He has five Nikon Cameras--three motorized and two single shot versions hanging around his neck and is trying to drink a can of fruit juice at the same time. And while candid pictures of the members of the band are usually the most attention grabbing, Summers is particularly effective when he is photographing close-ups or details of the world the band encounters. Long after examining the book numerous times, many of the images that remain fresh in the mind are pictures of subjects such as warped buildings reflected in glass windows, an empty room service tray in the hall outside a hotel room with a ray sunlight spotlighting it, "Help" written on a roll of toilet tissue running across a carpet from a mysterious door, a bathroom scene with a large guitar case sitting next to a toilet but with a naked leg sticking out from behind the case and resting against the wall, a tiny skin diver exploring the tile bottom of a bathtub, a series of party pictures showing a beautiful pair of stocking covered legs being held straight up in the air by a large bunch of helium filled party balloons. The last photograph in that series shows the balloons all stuck on the ceiling of the hotel room and the rest of the mysterious beautiful women still wearing the white stockings and lingerie but standing just inside the adjoining room.
There are too many wonderful pictures to describe in this short review. I've not even mentioned the pictures that I purchased for display in my own home. Andy Summers has an excellent eye as well as a good ear. The book will provide the reader with a feeling that they have shared part of what the members of the Police experienced during the three years covered by the photographic essay. There is only one criticism I have with the book and that is the type that is used for all the text. It was obviously intended to resemble the actual type written diary entries that are used to caption the photographs. Unfortunately, on the black ground of the book that style of text reproduction is sometimes difficult to read. The captions are all repeated three times, first in English and then again in two additional languages. The buyer of this book won't be disappointed. If they are, just think that this is basically the same book that many people bought as an autographed and numbered limited edition for $600 per copy. The buyer of this edition doesn't get the autograph or number but they do get the rest of the entire experience. While looking at the pictures, it's almost as if the reader can hear the music, feel the excitement and the popping of the electricity.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Comment: I gave this as a gift as well and he has read the entire book. He is a huge fan of the Police and this is a great book for anyone who is.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I'll be Watching You
Comment: Great book - arrived in less than no time - pics were great - my son had asked for the book for Christmas - he didn't realize he was getting the hard back book ! what a treat!
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