Santigold

Collaboration is second nature for Rock Paper Photo's latest guest curator, the singer-songwriter Santigold. She's worked in the studio with Beastie Boys and GZA, opened for MIA and Coldplay, and supported Kanye West and Jay-Z on tour. And now she's dived deep into our catalogue to create a multi-faceted collection that bears her unique personal stamp.

Fresh off the release of her second studio album, "The Master of My Make-Believe," Santigold (born Santi White) describes her latest effort as "eclectic but with some epic curveballs thrown into the mix." It's a style she also wears well as a photography curator. Santigold has selected photos reflecting reggae and jazz influences like Bob Marley and Nina Simone, but it's artists leading up to and making it big in the 80s that rule. B-52's, David Bowie, Grace Jones, Madonna, Beasties and LL Cool J are all here, and who could overlook Devo, her self-proclaimed "ultimate favorite band," represented here with two photos? Sixties classics (Hendrix, Beatles) and 90s hip-hop (Biggie Smalls, Snoop and Eazy-E) round out Santigold's photo picks.

About her new album's "make-believe" quality, the singer says, "I want it to be about creating your own reality." She's certainly done that for Rock Paper Photo's newest collection. Buy Santigold's newest album, Master of My Make-Believe.

All of Santigold's hand-picked favorites are for sale
as hand-signed limited edition fine prints.
Click on the "Shop Now" button for details and to order.

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BEATLES WITH THE MAHARISHI MANESH YOGI By Henry Grossman

Wales, 1967
Hand-signed, limited edition of 50
Starting at $3,500

Acclaimed photojournalist Henry Grossman enjoyed an unusually close relationship with The Beatles.
He met the band members on their first trip to the US in 1964 and then photographed them several more
times, including at theirs homes in the UK, at Abbey Road Studios in London, and on location
in the Bahamas and Austria on the set of the film, "Help."

Hollywood, 1976
Hand-signed, limited edition of 99
Starting at $495

RUN DMC AND THE BEASTIE BOYS by Ricky Powel

"Raising Hell" Tour Bus, 1986
Hand-signed, limited edition of 100
Starting at $600

Known as one of the leading photographers of the New York street and music scenes, Ricky Powell joined the Beastie Boys on their "Raising Hell" tour with Run DMC in 1986.
He caught a number of significant shots and was invited to join the "License to Ill" tour in '87 and stayed close with the band for a number for years.

1980
Hand-signed, limited edition of 250
Starting at $300

Mark "Weissguy" Weiss captured many of the 1980s most iconic performers.
Earlier this year, Rock Paper Photo staged an exhibit of Mark's 80s work called "The Decade that Rocked" which was curated by Phil Collen of Def Leppard.

San Francisco, 1978
Hand-signed, limited edition of 55
Starting at $600

Photographer Chester Simpson caught DEVO backstage as the band was being filmed
by the crew that was shooting Neil Young's "Rust Never Sleeps.”

San Fernando Valley, 1993
Hand-signed, limited edition of 75
Starting at $600

Onstage in New York City, 1978
Hand-signed, limited edition of 125
Starting at $1,500

"Singer, model and actress Grace Jones was known for her strong visual presence,"
says photographer Richard E. Aaron. "She was a muse to Andy Warhol, who photographed
her extensively, and accompanied him to Studio 54 on many occasions"

New York City, 2005
Hand-signed, limited edition of 20
Starting at $2,000

For several decades beginning in the 1950s Dezo Hoffmann was one of the most active photographers in London. He captured an incredible range of artists and touring celebrities including jazz singers, movie stars and rock legends. This photograph is authenticated with the official seal of the Dezo Hoffmann Archives.

London, Circa 1950
Llimited edition of 250
Starting at $135

Photographer George DuBose shot the
B-52's New York City debut at Max's Kansas City. "I loved this band from the first few bars of 'Planet Claire,’ " he says. George used this image for a street poster "which was stolen faster than I could put it up." Later it became the cover of the band's first LP.

New York City, 1977
Hand-signed, limited edition of 150
Starting at $500

Los Angeles, 1988
Hand-signed, limited edition of 100
Starting at $600

Shooting LL Cool J for a clothing line in 1988, photographer Ricky Powell recalls, "We were driving
around LA aimlessly with his entourage. At one point, I snapped and told them to stop the car,
somewhere in downtown LA/ business district. We got out and I just started shooting, very
impromptu like. I think I shot a roll. Then I asked them to drive me to LAX to catch my return flight...
It wasn't a glamorous shoot, but I did get a couple of gems out of it."

Richard Corman met Madonna to photograph her at her Lower East Side apartment in 1982 before the release of her first album. "She said, 'You know, we should go up to the roof because I go up there with all the kids from the building.' " the photographer recalls. “She was like the Pied Piper of the neighborhood -- they loved her. They followed her, they danced with her, they sang with her. It was something they did on a daily basis, and it was remarkable. We just walked up and they gathered around. She put the boom box on -- it was her music -- and they just started dancing and singing."

New York City, 1982
Hand-signed, limited edition of 50
Starting at $600

Helsinki, 1976
Hand-signed, limited edition of 150
Starting at $600

Andrew Kent captured intimate moments with David Bowie while traveling with the singer throughout the summer of 1976 on the European leg of the "Station to Station" tour. In this shot, Bowie had just arrived in Helsinki for a press conference, after an impromptu side trip to Moscow, with Jimmy Osterberg (aka Iggy Pop) and the photographer. Due to a misreading of the train schedule, Bowie's publicist invited the press a day too early. When Bowie didn't show, recalls Andrew, "People started to worry.” The newspaper headline the next day screamed, “Bowie Lost in Russia!”

In this shot which was taken from across the river, Photographer Chi Modu wanted to get a photograph of Biggie that “could show how, in the rap world at the time, he was the king of New York." The shoot was postponed several times because Biggie was on out on tour, recalls the photographer. “When we finally did get the photo shoot done, little did I know that within a period of five years, both Biggie and the World Trade Center Towers would be gone."

Jersey City, New Jersey, 1997
Hand-signed, limited edition of 100
Starting at $1,200

This shot was an outtake from George DuBose's cover shoot for Biz Markie's release, "Let Me Turn You On!" "Biz has a great sense of humor and was always great to work with,” says George DuBose, the art director for the Cold Chillin' label.

New York City, 1993
Hand-signed, limited edition of 150
Starting at $500

New York City, 1984
Hand-signed, limited edition of 100
Starting at $600

Toronto, 1999
Hand-signed, limited edition of 125
Starting at $450

London, 1967
Limited Edition of 250
Starting at $135

Jamaica, 1973
Hand-signed, open edition
Starting at $500

New York City, 1980s
Hand-signed, limited edition of 100
Starting at $600