RetroBlakesberg: Volume One: The Film Archives is a hardcover coffee table book retrospective of renowned pop culture photographer Jay Blakesberg’s life in pictures and words. At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, Jay’s daughter, Ricki Blakesberg, created an Instagram account called RetroBlakesberg to share images from her father’s extensive archive of film photography. The Instagram page features exclusively photographs Jay shot on film and is 100% curated by Ricki. The first volume of RetroBlakesberg is an extension of its namesake Instagram page. The book presents a vast collection of Jay’s iconic film images spanning nearly four decades, from Jay’s high school days in the late 1970s through his switch to full-time digital photography in 2008. Each of the book’s four chapters, chronologically arranged by decade, begins with an engaging essay written by Jay wherein he discusses what was going on with his life, his career, and pop culture during the corresponding time period. These brief essays provide an intimate glimpse into Jay’s personal history and professional development, revealing how closely those paths are intertwined. The culminating effect of Jay’s written and visual storytelling is a photographic journey through the decade-by-decade evolution of fashion, music, and musical subcultures. Artists included in this book are the Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, Michael Franti, and many, many more. With a foreword by Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne and an introduction by spiritual activist and musician Michael Franti, along with extended captions and essays by Jay Blakesberg, RetroBlakesberg paints a solid picture of a 40-plus-year career in photography. Jay’s film photographs continue to be relevant as both a time capsule and mirror of the twisted sliver of popular culture he documented over the years.
