Product Description

From the start of The Police in 1978 until their separation in 1983, photographer Goldsmith had unparalleled access to the band, capturing its meteoric and often turbulent rise to fame. This collection includes hundreds of photographs and coincides with the bands 30th anniversary.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #166704 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

About the Author
Lynn Goldsmith is an award-winning portrait photographer whose work has appeared on and between the covers of Life, Newsweek, Time, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, People, Elle, Interview, US, Paris Match, and other major magazines worldwide. Her subjects have varied from entertainment personalities to sports stars, from film directors to authors, from the extraordinary to the ordinary man on the street. She lives in New York City and Aspen, Colorado. 

Customer Reviews

A wonderful collection for all fans.
One of the great things to come from the Police reunion this year is the deluge of new merchadise for collectors and fans of the band who have been starved for such items for years. Lynn Goldsmith's new photobook is certainly one item most of these collectors will surely want to add to their bookshelves, and is certainly a book that is long overdue for release.

Lynn is responsible for many of the most famous, iconic images of the band that we have known for decades. Her previous Police photobook, published in the 80s, contained all black and white images and conveyed a very personal approach to each member of the band. This volume--primarily in bursting color instead of black and white--also features sections of images devoted to singular portraits of Sting, Stewart and Andy, yet it has a more cohesive, group-oriented feel to it. Perhaps it is the inclusion of quotes from the band members themselves that help tie this volume together so well (as compared to the rather pretentious literary quotes that were sprinkled throughout her earlier volume.)

Inside you will also find a lengthy, beautiful collection of images from the Montserrat recording sessions for "Ghost in the Machine"; a collection of "On the Road" pictures; and also early images from New York City, Los Angeles, and London. One is left imagining that surely there are enough photos to fill a book ten times this size in Lynn's archives, but nevertheless what we are treated to here is welcome enough.

Far from perfect
First, I must underline the perfect Amazon service. The book arrived before I expected it and in perfect condition: 5 stars to the service then.

The photo book could have been better in my personal opinion. Photos are beautiful, well printed, but some of them are really too known to gain a place in a "new" photo book of The Police. The biggest defect is, however, the lack of captions: only some words by The Police put casually, and in most cases well known phrases taken from other books (as stated on the credits). I would have preferred if every pic had a caption of when and where it was shoot. From this point of view, Danny Quatrochi's Police Confidential is far superior to Lynn Goldsmith's book. And concluding: the collage photo of Sting at the end contains so many pictures I never saw that one ends the book thinking why on earth Lynn didn't put "those" photos in the book!
All in all, not bad, but it leaves me a feeling of "unfinished" and "it could be better" hurried book.

The Police Uncovered
I always enjoyed Lynn's photographic style. She seemed to have a very special relationship with the members of The Police. Her shots brought out something in those guys that otherwise may have remained hidden from view. I have an older tome she did in the 80's with additional shots of the guys and I love both books.Sting, Stewart and Andy all contribute captions to the various shots on this 2007 edition, and just in time for the long awaited Police reunion. Interest in The Police is once again at a very high level, and one might think she was jumping on the band wagon to earn a buck from the "Police Machine." I don't think this is the case at all, at least as far as she goes. The book is divided somewhat into sections, with each band member getting their fair share of exposure as well as a section of group shots. I could say the obvious - "a must for Police fans", but I don't think I need to. We already know.