Bob Marley: Spirit Dancer

It has been over a decade since Bob Marley's untimely death in 1981, but he is still a powerful worldwide presence. His music remains at the top of the reggae charts, while his memory is indelibly etched in the minds of his millions of followers. In the last two years of his life Marley underwent a dramatic change. To the huge crowds who saw him perform he was no longer its fearsome singer but a gentler and more philosophical version of himself. In these years he met photographer Bruce Talamon with whom he felt comfortable enough to grant unprecedented access, both on stage and off. The result is this remarkable visual record. "Nowhere," writes Timothy White in his Foreword, "is the private warmth, social equanimity, and zealous determination of the man better captured than by the reconnaissance and photojournalism of Bruce Talamon. Marley's personal magnetism fairly pulsates within the frames of Talamon's shots."

Roger Steffans's sensitive text traces Marley's life from his youth in Jamaica and the early music of The Wailers to his worldwide acceptance and the poignant months preceding his death at age 36.

Among his many photography projects, Bruce Talamon has shot for Time magazine and has documented the production of many feature films. Roger Steffans is a columnist, editor, and contributor to Reggae and Afncan Beat magazine, SPIN, BAM, the Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Musician, and the Chicago Tribune. They both live in Los Angeles. Timothy White is the author of the Marley biography, Catch a Fire. 1994 / ISBN 0-393-31200-3 / 9-1/2" x 12" / 90 duotones / 128 pages / MUSIC/PHOTOGRAPHY