Stewart Cohen’s Identity is a pictorial essay on character, and a labor of love he began in 1999. Over the next decade, he sought out and encountered individuals from various walks of life whose personalities interested him. These portraits, combined with each subject’s own commentary on what makes them tick, resulted in this collection of riveting images and words that reveal or, in some cases, conceal inner lives.

When he learned there’s an actual girl from Ipanema who inspired the 60s bossa nova hit and who’s still there, tall and tan and eternally lovely, he had to meet her. And while in Rio, Stewart pursued legendary Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who’s still working and creating today.

His own love of rock and blues pointed him to legends like John Lee Hooker, B.B. King and Edgar Winter, and newer faces like Theo Kogan and Bob Schneider. There were the delightfully serendipitous discoveries like the identically white-gloved, cigarette-puffing Gallo Twins he met at a Twins Day Festival; and maverick artist Campbell “Camp” Bosworth of Marfa, Texas. Offbeat characters like the Lizard Man and Lucky fed Stewart’s curiosity and offered insight to their nonconformist lifestyles. He also embraced the rare opportunity the book afforded to glimpse behind the curtain at the Prince of Monaco and such societal icons as Peter Beard, Stephen Hawking and Jane Goodall.

Specifications:

• Format: Hardback
• Dimensions: 275mm x 375mm
• Pages: 112
• Edition: First Edition
• Brand: Dream Editions Press
• ISBN: 9780970770622