Patti Smith: American Artist
by: Frank Stefanko, Patti Smith, et al.

Softcover. Insight Editions, reprint, 2017, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 164 pages. A stunning collection of photographs from Frank Stefanko featuring the Godmother of Punk herself, iconic musician and author Patti Smith."There I was sitting in a booth at the co-op of Glassboro State College, a bucolic school in the farmlands of South Jersey. . . Suddenly, the double doors of the co-op swung open and standing there in the vacuum created was an incredible apparition, a vision in a white leather coat with long, jet-black hair flowing down her back. She moseyed in like the bad guy walking into a saloon in an old western movie. This was the first time I set eyes on Patti Smith, and I was captivated."So begins Frank Stefanko's wonderfully personal photographic tale of his friendship and artistic collaboration with Patti Smith. Stefanko's photographs and his warm, personal recollections show us an amazing young woman, long before she became Patti Smith, the cultural icon. Through images and words, we follow her search for a unique voice--from the early days of the Chelsea Hotel to spoken word at the St. Mark's Poetry Project to the release of her seminal album, Horses, and so much more.