Big Up [Paperback]

Ben Watts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2004

Hip-hop playaz. Street punks. Supermodels. Plenty of tattoos and lots of bling bling. Big Up is a photographic scrapbook of Americas raucous youth culture, created by one of the brightest young photographers in the fashion industry. Our limited hardcover edition of this extraordinary document was so eagerly sought that all 1,500 copies were accounted for before we even released the book. Now we're reissuing it -- how could we not? -- in a handy and inexpensive paperback format that's sure to once again capture the imagination. But don't just take our word for it. Here are what the critics have to say about Big Up:

"Big Up, a hectic insider's view of the past dozen years of urban youth culture by London-born, Australian-raised Ben Watts, is too wild and too idiosyncratic to go unmentioned. The spontaneity and verve Watts packs into his pictures are perfectly mirrored in the book's...scrapbook-style design. Cut up, collaged, crayoned, and tagged with markers, the photos feel less like fixed, flattened documents than little time bombs about to explode. This sense of terrific, barely contained energy makes Big Up big fun, and the ideal time capsule for a style moment that just won't quit." --Village Voice

"British photographer Ben Watts shot some rad pictures of wrestlers for us a short while ago. We were in love with his images then, and we haven't fallen out of love since. Big Up collects a variety of his raw, high-energy hip-hop portraits into one inspiring scrapbook." --Tokion

Editorial Reviews

Review

"one of the world's top photographers." -- CITY Magazine, Summer 2004

Provides days worth of cerebral cortex stimulation, not to mention style ideas. -- XLR8R Magazine, November 2004

About the Author

Ben Watts has won several photographic awards and is a regular contributor to a variety of lifestyle magazines including Interview , Rolling Stone , and the NY Times Magazine . He lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (September 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568984529
• ISBN-13: 978-1568984520
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #725,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

It's no wonder our 2003 Ben Watts monograph, Big Up>, sold out before it was even released. Watts is internationally known for bringing the frenetic verve of street photography to his diverse body of work. Whether on location for Vanity Fair, Elle, Rolling Stone, or Nike, Watts's camera captures a feeling of barely contained, youthful energy and sucks the raw essence out of his subjects. Watts has an uncanny ability to simultaneously put his subjects at ease and amp up their adrenaline. His working process has as much in common with the call-and-response patterns in hip-hop music as it does with the traditional conventions of photography. He is always ready to swap his professional camera for a Polaroid so that his subjects can see the photos immediately and tag them with shout-outs or trash talk. His photo shoots are like block parties where his subjects drop their guard to reveal an honest sense of self-pride, and love of life.

Lickshot is Ben Watts's highly personalized scrapbook and travel diary. A triumph of lo-fi style, its pages are a delirious pastiche of gritty photographs, wonky Polaroids, and hand-scrawled graffiti, held together by slashes of colored tape. Its contents reflect the incredible variety of Watts's photographic subjects--from high school ice skaters, Brooklyn biker gangs, and lounging sunbathers to world-famous actors, supermodels, and today's hottest musicians. LickshotEincludes photos of Heath Ledger, Benicio del Toro, Tobey Maguire, Rachel Weisz, Guy Pearce, Adrien Brody, Bruce Springsteen, Lil Wayne, Lou Reed, Jay-Z, Coldplay, T.I., Alicia Keys, Snoop Dogg, Andre 3000, B. B. King, Mary J. Blige, and Ben Harper. An interview with Watts by Vanity Fair editor Ingrid Sischy explores Watts's background and creative influences.


Ben Watts is a New York-based photographer who shoots advertising campaigns for Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, Miller Lite, Kodak, the Gap, Sony Music, and Apple, and he is a regular contributor to numerous magazines, including the New York Times Magazine, GQ, Interview, Rolling Stone, VIBE, Esquire, Elle, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, and Conde Nast Traveler. Watts has contributed to several group exhibitions and has had a solo exhibition at Milk Gallery in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars rare gem, December 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Big Up (Hardcover)

Everything about this book oozes quality.the photography,
the printing,binding , and art direction make this book so interesting to look through.i got the book yesterday and have been through it about 3-4 times and am so impressed by it .ben watts is definetly one of this generations
hottest photographers.this book is a rare gem.it will never bore you.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bo bo bo...., November 26, 2003

By 

Gerrard Needham (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Up (Hardcover)

As the most vibrant photographic documentation of youth culture I have seen to date Ben Watts shows us a side of life that can have been easily forgotten in more recent times - freedom and dignity! The people who for whatever reason have come to be the subjects of this photographer are portrayed with a common sense of pride and are not the least bit self-concious, be they wealthy celbrities or youth from the 'hood. These photographs pretty much wreek of enthusiasm.
The random, 'scrappy' design of this book is evidence of the real joy of putting a photographic diary together rather than the fuss and pomp of what some of his professional life must offer, however does not necessarily leave that behind. The way it's been put together is almost autobiographical, the baggage tags, grease pencil and camera tape etc all serve to inform us that he is also a hard working, hard travelling professional photographer and the imagery shot over what would seem to be well over a decade reminds us that the personal and life long journey from youth to adulthood does not have to be solely devoted to being 'the career guy' as there is a life out there and you can be a part of it.
If this is his first book - I say, "bring on the second!!"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Up Up and away..., November 4, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Big Up (Hardcover)

I bought this book about 10 days ago and have probably flicked through it every night since I bought it.What an amazing piece of art. Each time you look at it you will see something you haven't noticed before. Ben Watts has captured the urban youth being exactly that - Young, colorful and full of life. What a privelige it is that a truly superb photographer has shared his personal diary/scrap book with the rest of us. I totally recommend this book.. PERFECT for a xmas present.