The Art of Advertising, by George Lois

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Why?

“This is a big coffee table book. It was a big inspiration for me, and later I got to meet him through David Hershkovits at PAPER Magazine. He knew I was a big fan of him, so he brought me to interview George for his paperback book. I liked the Esquire covers that George is famous for. They were really interesting—the imagery, doing the unthinkable, like putting Sonny Liston with Andy Warhol. There was a whole big thing when the book came out, that it was like a handbook for creative people. Everyone that interviewed him was like, ‘Oh, the original Mad Man.’ And he hated that. He hated that show, he said it was such bullshit. I think I brought it up and he started cursing so hard he was spitting. He was like, ‘That fucking bullshit!’ I love that he was a tough guy.”
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- Ricky Powell, Photographer

Greenwich Village from 1963, by Fred McDarrah

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Why?

“Well, you know, I'm a Village kid. And his pictures of the Village back then, like from '63, were raw. He was shooting a lot of the artists that were hanging outside of the buildings. People on the corner of 8th and Macdougal, there's a coffee shop right now, it was the 8th Street Bookstore. And people used to go there to fucking put like a crate down, and stand up, and start ranting about shit. Like socialism, and Marxism. It's like the Bible for me. I got it signed by him before he died, like ten years ago.”
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- Ricky Powell, Photographer

Linda McCartney’s Sixties: Portraits of an Era, by Linda McCartney

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Why?

“It really struck me because she was low-key. She wasn't all dolled up. She was Plain Jane. And the photographs were mostly famous people, but they weren't pretentious photos. I liked that she was like, ‘You know, yeah. I took the train, or I went for a walk with so-and-so.’ They were simple, and I really liked it.”
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- Ricky Powell, Photographer