Prince (November 11, 2016) – “Photo Book to Showcase Prince’s Life” Feature

DULUTH NEWS-TRIBUNE

The November 11, 2016 Duluth News-Tribune previews photographer Steve Parke’s forthcoming Picturing Prince: An Intimate Portrait, a collection of rare photographs documenting Prince away from the conventional public spotlight. Having worked as Prince’s art director for more than a decade, Parke assembled previously unpublished images, everyday moments and personal vignettes from the years 1988 to 2001, with Sheila E. providing the book’s foreword.

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS

FEATURE	DETAILS
Artist:	Prince
Publication:	Duluth News-Tribune
Publication Date:	November 11, 2016
Location:	Duluth, Minnesota, USA
Writer:	Brittany Britto
Credit:	Baltimore Sun
Headline:	Photo book to showcase Prince’s life
Book:	Picturing Prince: An Intimate Portrait
Photographer / Author:	Steve Parke
Period Covered:	1988–2001
Book Format:	Hardcover
Vignettes:	50
Foreword:	Sheila E.
UK Release Announced:	April 6
Format:	Book Preview / News Feature
Principal Theme:	Steve Parke’s intimate photographic documentation of Prince’s everyday life and creative world

ORIGINAL SOURCE MATERIAL

ORIGINAL DULUTH NEWS-TRIBUNE CUTTING

[IMAGE – DULUTH NEWS-TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 11, 2016 – “PHOTO BOOK TO SHOWCASE PRINCE’S LIFE”]

INTRODUCTION

PHOTO BOOK TO SHOWCASE PRINCE’S LIFE	PICTURING PRINCE
The Duluth News-Tribune previews a forthcoming collection of photographs taken by Steve Parke during the years spent working closely around Prince.	Titled Picturing Prince: An Intimate Portrait, the book was intended to show moments substantially different from the familiar concert, publicity and red-carpet imagery associated with a major music star.

STEVE PARKE

PHOTOGRAPHER	ART DIRECTOR
Steve Parke is identified as the photographer responsible for the rare images forming the basis of the book.	The cutting states that Parke had been Prince’s art director for more than a decade, giving Parke unusual access to Prince’s working environment.

MORE THAN A FORMAL PHOTO BOOK

EVERYDAY MOMENTS	AN INTIMATE APPROACH
The project was not intended simply as a collection of carefully posed publicity photographs.	Parke selected images capturing ordinary activities and unguarded situations, giving the book the more personal quality reflected in its subtitle.

SHOOTING HOOPS

PRINCE AWAY FROM THE STAGE	EVERYDAY ACTIVITY
One of the examples given by the newspaper is Prince playing basketball.	The inclusion demonstrates the type of ordinary activity Parke wanted to preserve alongside the better-known public image.

MOVIE THEATRES AT 4 A.M.

AN UNUSUAL DETAIL	LIFE OUTSIDE PERFORMANCE
Parke also photographed moments connected with Prince renting movie theatres at four o’clock in the morning.	Details such as this provide glimpses of daily life that differ sharply from conventional music photography.

PAISLEY PARK

LOUNGING AROUND THE COMPLEX	A WORKING ENVIRONMENT
The article specifically mentions photographs of Prince simply spending time around Paisley Park.	These images document the studio complex not only as a creative workplace but as part of Prince’s everyday environment.

1988–2001

THE PERIOD COVERED	MORE THAN A DECADE
The hardcover book includes material describing Parke’s experiences with Prince between 1988 and 2001.	That period allowed the project to draw upon photographs created across many years rather than document one isolated album, tour or visual era.

RARE PHOTOGRAPHS

A LARGE ARCHIVE	MANY NEVER PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED
Parke assembled the book from photographs taken while working around Prince.	The article states that at least half of the selected photographs had never previously been published.

A DIFFERENT PRINCE

PUBLIC PERSONALITY	DAY-TO-DAY LIFE
Parke distinguishes the person encountered in ordinary circumstances from the carefully controlled public personality familiar to audiences.	The project was intended to get closer to Prince as a person by showing the day-to-day situations that rarely formed part of the public record.

OFF THE CUFF

UNPLANNED MOMENTS	LESS FORMAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Parke describes many of the photographs as having an off-the-cuff and down-to-earth quality.	The situations were often not carefully arranged in advance, allowing the resulting images to retain a more spontaneous character.

EARLY DIGITAL CAMERAS

PHOTOGRAPHIC TECHNOLOGY	WORKING QUICKLY
Parke says early digital camera equipment played an important role in creating the archive.	The technology allowed photographs to be taken quickly and with relatively little preparation, supporting the informal style Parke describes.

PHOTOGRAPHS ON THE RUN

LESS SET-UP	MORE SPONTANEITY
The compact digital equipment enabled Parke to photograph situations as they developed.	This made it easier to preserve unscripted moments that might have disappeared by the time a conventional formal photographic set-up had been arranged.

AT THE CORE OF HIM AS A PERSON

PARKE’S AIM	BEYOND CELEBRITY
Parke explains that part of the project was about reaching the core of Prince as a person.	The distinction between public image and everyday experience becomes the central idea running through the newspaper’s account of the book.

50 VIGNETTES

PARKE’S MEMORIES	WORDS WITH THE PHOTOGRAPHS
The hardcover edition was planned to contain 50 vignettes written by Parke.	These pieces describe moments shared with Prince, adding recollection and context to the photographic material.

PHOTOGRAPHY & MEMORY

THE IMAGES	THE STORIES BEHIND THEM
The photographs provide the visual record of Parke’s years around Prince.	The accompanying vignettes allow Parke to explain circumstances and memories that the images alone could not fully preserve.

SHEILA E.

THE FOREWORD	ANOTHER PRINCE CONNECTION
Sheila E. is identified as the writer of the book’s foreword.	Her contribution gives the publication another direct connection with somebody closely associated with Prince’s musical history.

THE UK RELEASE

APRIL 6	HARDCOVER EDITION
The newspaper reports that the book was scheduled for release in the United Kingdom on April 6.	Parke expected the book to become available in the United States at approximately the same time.

THE UNITED STATES

EXPECTED AROUND THE SAME DATE	NOT YET RELEASED
At the time the newspaper article appeared, Parke expected American availability around the UK release date.	The wording is appropriately forward-looking because the feature was previewing a publication still several months away.

THE BOOK COVER

PICTURING PRINCE	AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT
A small colour reproduction of the forthcoming book appears inside the newspaper cutting.	The cover uses two photographic images above the title Picturing Prince, visually reinforcing the publication’s emphasis on Parke’s photographic access.

A SMALL IMAGE WITHIN THE CUTTING

BOOK PROMOTION	VISUAL IDENTIFICATION
The book-cover reproduction is the only substantial image included in the supplied clipping.	Its presence gives readers an immediate visual reference for the publication being discussed while leaving most of the newspaper space for Parke’s explanation of the project.

A BOOK CREATED AFTER PRINCE’S PASSING

2016	A NEW ARCHIVAL CONTEXT
The newspaper feature appeared in November 2016, during the year of Prince’s passing.	Parke’s photographic archive consequently gained additional historical weight as previously unseen material documenting everyday moments became part of the expanding public record.

THE VALUE OF ACCESS

ART DIRECTOR	PHOTOGRAPHER
Parke’s work as Prince’s art director placed Parke within Prince’s creative environment for many years.	Combining that professional access with photography allowed moments to be preserved that would not normally have been available to an outside press photographer.

NOT A CONVENTIONAL CELEBRITY PORTRAIT

PUBLICITY PHOTOGRAPHY	ORDINARY LIFE
The newspaper repeatedly emphasises the difference between these images and carefully prepared photographs made for public presentation.	Basketball, late-night cinema visits and quiet moments around Paisley Park form the type of material used to create the book’s more personal perspective.

PRINCE AT PAISLEY PARK

THE PUBLIC IMAGE	THE PRIVATE WORKING ENVIRONMENT
Paisley Park is familiar as a central location in Prince’s professional history.	Parke’s photographs broaden that history by documenting ordinary moments within the same environment rather than limiting Paisley Park to recording sessions and formal events.

WHY THE CUTTING MATTERS

A BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT	A PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE
On one level, the article is a straightforward advance feature announcing a forthcoming photographic book.	More importantly for the archive, it records Parke explaining why these particular photographs were made, how early digital equipment helped create them and what Parke hoped readers would discover in the finished collection.

WHAT THE FEATURE DOCUMENTS

THE BOOK	THE PHOTOGRAPHIC APPROACH
Picturing Prince: An Intimate Portrait Steve Parke Prince material from 1988–2001 Hardcover edition 50 vignettes Foreword by Sheila E. UK release announced for April 6	Everyday activities Basketball Late-night movie theatres Paisley Park At least half the photographs previously unpublished Early digital cameras Minimal preparation Off-the-cuff approach

CONTEXT AND NOTES

HISTORICAL CONTEXT	ARCHIVAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Duluth News-Tribune feature appeared on November 11, 2016 and credits Brittany Britto of the Baltimore Sun. The book was still forthcoming when the article was published.	The cutting therefore preserves Parke’s intentions before readers had access to the complete publication, providing contemporary context for why the photographic archive was being assembled and released.
Parke states that at least half the photographs had not previously been published and describes using early digital camera equipment that allowed images to be taken with limited preparation.	These details are particularly useful because they explain why the archive contains spontaneous material noticeably different from conventional posed Prince photography.
The article announces April 6 as the UK release date and says Parke expected American availability around the same time.	The Chronicle retains that wording as a contemporary release plan rather than silently converting the newspaper’s expectation into a later confirmed publication history.

CONCLUSION

PHOTO BOOK TO SHOWCASE PRINCE’S LIFE	AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT
Brittany Britto’s November 2016 feature introduces Picturing Prince not simply as another collection of celebrity photographs but as the product of Steve Parke’s unusually sustained access to Prince’s creative and everyday environment.	Basketball, late-night movie theatres and quiet time around Paisley Park sit alongside fifty personal vignettes and a substantial body of previously unpublished photography. The result promised readers something deliberately different: not Prince performing the public role, but glimpses of the person Parke encountered from day to day between 1988 and 2001.

SOURCES / COPYRIGHT & ARCHIVAL USE

SOURCES

Duluth News-Tribune

November 11, 2016

Brittany Britto

Baltimore Sun

Original supplied Duluth News-Tribune cutting

Picturing Prince: An Intimate Portrait

Steve Parke

COPYRIGHT & ARCHIVAL USE

All newspaper scans, photographs, book artwork and original text excerpts referenced in this entry remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Chronicle entry is a transformative, non-commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.