Friends! It’s been a long time coming, but today it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you my third book, titled Seattle 100: Portrait of a City.. From the back cover:

Seattle 100: Portrait of a City is the culmination of a three-year personal project by renowned photographer, filmmaker, and social artist Chase Jarvis. Both a creative project and an insightful ethnography, Seattle 100 shares—via more than 300 stunning black-and-white portraits and biographies of each subject—a curated collection of artists, musicians, writers, scientists, restaurateurs, DJs, developers, activists, entrepreneurs, filmmakers, and more, all of whom are defining and driving culture in Seattle. Some faces you will know, other names you may have heard in passing, and others still have been unknown to you until now. What’s common among them is that they are all innovators, leaders, trendsetters, and pathfinders in their own way.

With this book, Jarvis has carved out perhaps the first ever snapshot of a city’s culture through its people. And it’s inclusive. Descriptive rather than prescriptive. It’s a 100, not an exclusive the 100, and it invites each of us to survey our own surroundings, our lives, our friends—and those not yet our friends—that make up the place we all live, whether that’s Seattle or anywhere else. Individually, the images and words here introduce you to 100 engaging and important people. Collectively, this portrait of a city tells a fascinating, interwoven story about a unique and vibrant place.

Beyond the photos and commentary by Jarvis, there are pithy musings by a select handful of subjects on the topics of art, food, community, region, culture, and film. In addition, each of the subjects shares their favorite things, places, and doings in and around the Seattle that they have explored, discovered, and rediscovered time and again.

So that’s a summary. But there’s 3 important points I’d love to share with you.

1. Behind the Scenes. In an attempt to continue to pull back the curtain, from NOW till launch I will be blogging regularly, video blogging AND answering all your questions that come in via blog post comments, my @chasejarvis Twitter handle, and Facebook page, about the process of making a book. All the steps between today’s announcement and the launch of the book… So ASK AWAY! Nothing is off limits…the press stuff, the promo videos, the closed-door meetings, as well as the craziness leading up to the launch of…get this…an entire Seattle 100 website and the curating and hanging of the Seattle 100 gallery exhibitions, opening in October. If I can legally share it, I will.

2. The book is available for purchase NOW. Please buy a copy today. It will not ship until it hits warehouses on October 10, but the print run is limited and the publisher, Peach Pit/New Riders (Division of Pearson) expects it to sell out quickly. It’s a hardback book, 240 pages, 10″x10″. The publisher initially suggested a retail price to be $70, but thanks to their willingness to help make this book more broadly accessible, we agreed to a suggested retail price of $39.99. BUT, if you buy from one of the online retailers below, you can pick up this book for $26 bucks. Yes. A large format, hard backed art book for $26 bucks. And the kicker? I am donating 100% of my artist proceeds from this book to the amazing non-profit arts and culture organization www.4culture.org. So if you buy the book, you get art and you help support the arts.

Buy from Amazon online here: Seattle 100: Portrait of a City
Buy from Barnes & Noble online here: Seattle 100: Portrait of a City
Buy from Borders online here: Seattle 100: Portrait of a City

3. A few of the images from the project–but not necessarily the ones in the book–can be seen via this gallery on my site: Chase Jarvis Seattle 100.

And the Seattle Times had a nice, substantial writeup that nailed the front page here…check it: Seattle Times on Chase Jarvis and Seattle 100.

Looking forward to turning this process inside out over the next 8 weeks. Thanks for all your support. First look at a stack of proofs after the jump … [continue reading ...]