new book by Petra Richterová
SOUND OF LIGHT:
Music Photography and Conversations with the Artists
An independent, limited edition publication. Available copies: 200
Available Now
“The magic and mystery of music permeates and animates every domain of culture, and Petra Richterová’s Sound of Light is the work of a brilliant artist-scholar who is able to capture the profundity of music as it manifests through the words, sounds and movements of some of the greatest musicians of our time. Shot with passion and precision, Richterová uses her enchanted eye machine to take her reader/viewer on an intoxicating journey across the Aurora Borealis of black Atlantic music.”
Dr. Michael E. Veal,
Professor of Music at Yale University
Petra Richterová, Sound of Light: Music Photography and Conversations with the Artists
"A limited edition of 200, beautifully designed and printed on heavy paper, reasonably priced at $65. Collectors and libraries should snap it up. Most of the pages are given over to (very good) photos of musicians – a section of candids and a section on stage – but also with plenty to read, including transcriptions of Dr. R's interviews with Robert Glasper, the late lamented Greg Tate, Marcus Strickland, Will Calhoun, Angelo Moore, and Marcus Miller. Prologue by Tate, Doug Wimbish on the cover. It's a great companion to Dan Charnas's instant-classic Dilla Time, which is available again after Macmillan apparently failed to anticipate the demand for the first printing."
Ned Sublette
Author, Musicologist and Musician
The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square
Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo
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SOUND OF LIGHT:
Music Photography and Conversations with the Artists
uncovers 25 years of my photography focusing on the griots of African American and Afro-diasporic music. Following black music scenes in New York City and on the road, it is a love letter to the art of music and the art of photography. The book consists of images plus conversations with musicians about their artistic process and the spirituality of music. Seeing jazz, hip hop, funk, soul, rock n' roll, street dance culture and beyond, the volume reflects the relatedness of black music and performance styles, celebrating the common root of artistic expression from a personal perspective. Cultivating my vision as a photographer has meant seeing beyond the world of forms and discrete artistic mediums, allowing me to transcend the process of my rational mind to work with an iconography of the spirit. The two photographic chapters, OFFstage and ONstage, offer a soulful glimpse into the fullness of the itinerant performer’s experience. Those interviewed are all longtime collaborators—this intimacy and openness comes across in honest conversations about the creative process. Prologue by the late poet and cultural critic Greg Tate. Interviews were conducted with Robert Glasper, Angelo Moore, Marcus Strickland, Will Calhoun, Greg Tate, and Marcus Miller. Featured artists include Wynton Marsalis, Bilal, Ishmael Butler, Fishbone, Keyon Harrold, Parliament-Funkadelic, Jason Moran, Living Colour, Wadada Leo Smith, Chucho Valdés, Youssou N’Dour, Pharoahe Monch, Hassan Hakmoun, Randy Weston, Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber, Cavalier, Chris “Daddy” Dave, Storyboard P, and Salif Keita, among others.
Book Design: Station @wearestation
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Petra Richterová is a SCHOLAR, PHOTOGRAPHER, and FILMMAKER who received her doctorate from Yale University (2010) specializing in the Arts of the African Diaspora. She has photographed for Jazz at Lincoln Center and The Black Rock Coalition, and her images have been shown at Columbia University, Fábrica de Arte Cubano, and The Studio Museum in Harlem. Petra’s first short film, ON MY MIND (Blue Note Records), premiered with Afropunk in 2020, and her second short film, ARE YOU HEARING ME?, premiered with Vibe Music Collective in 2021. She is a 2021-22 Scholar-in-Residence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (NYPL) where she is completing her scholarly book on AfroCuban dance, Rumba: A Philosophy of Motion. Petra is a Professor of African and African American Art History at Savannah College of Art and Design. She spends her time between Brooklyn and Savannah.
Are You Hearing Me? dance film (Vibe Music Collective, 2021)
On My Mind short film (Blue Note Records, 2020)
A ROC NOMADIA PRODUCTION
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