PowerHouse Books
| Company type | Independent publisher |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Founder | Daniel Power |
| Headquarters | Brooklyn , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Daniel Power (founder) |
| Products | Art books, photography books, children's books (POW! imprint), literary fiction and non-fiction (Archway Editions imprint) |
| Owner | Daniel Power |
| Website | powerhousebooks |
Overview
PowerHouse Books (presented as powerHouse Books) is a Brooklyn-based independent publisher specializing in art and photography titles. Established in 1995 by Daniel Power, the company is headquartered in Industry City, Brooklyn. PowerHouse Books maintains a strong connection with Powerhouse Bookstores, a group of independently owned bookstores also founded by Daniel Power. Their main retail space is situated at The PowerHouse Arena, located at 28 Adams Street along the DUMBO waterfront in Brooklyn. Additionally, PowerHouse Books manages a children's book division known as POW!.
Publishing and Related Ventures
Established in 1995 by Daniel Power from his Lower East Side apartment, PowerHouse Books has gained recognition for its "Image Driven" approach to publishing, focusing on areas such as street culture, popular culture, fashion, politics, and fine arts. The company’s initial bestseller was Women Before 10AM, authored by Veronique Vial with a foreword by Sean Penn, released in 1998. A significant milestone came in 2011 with the publication of Vivian Maier: Street Photographer, which posthumously introduced the previously undiscovered photographer to a wider audience, coinciding with the release of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Finding Vivian Maier.
In 2006, PowerHouse Books inaugurated The PowerHouse Arena, a multifunctional space combining a gallery, bookstore, and event venue designed to showcase artists affiliated with the publisher. Originally situated at 37 Main Street, the Arena relocated to 28 Adams Street in 2015. Later, in 2020, PowerHouse Books expanded by opening a new site within Industry City and transferred its corporate publishing headquarters there.
Beyond publishing photographers and artists, PowerHouse Books has collaborated with creatives from diverse disciplines. Notably, it partnered with Charlie Ahearn on Wild Style: The Sampler, offering an insider’s perspective on Ahearn’s 1982 film Wild Style, widely regarded as the pioneering hip hop movie. Visual artists featured by the publisher include John Lurie, Francesco Clemente, Richard Prince, Kehinde Wiley, and George Condo. The roster also includes actors and filmmakers such as Diane Keaton, Jeff Bridges, Richard Lewis, Jessica Lange, David Lynch, and Brett Ratner. Musicians represented encompass Richard Hell, DJ Stretch Armstrong, Michael Bolton, Mike McCready, KRS-One, Gene Simmons, and The Beastie Boys.
In 2013, PowerHouse Books introduced "POW! Kids Books," described as an inclusive and progressive children’s book imprint. Subsequently, in 2020, it launched Archway Editions, a literary imprint aimed at "millennial fiction and non-fiction," developed in collaboration with Chris Molnar of The Writer's Block and Nicodemus Nicoludis. This imprint has published works by authors including Ishmael Reed, Christopher Coe, John Farris, Paul Schrader, Mike Sacks, Stacy Szymaszek, Blake Butler, and Alice Notley. It also produces anthologies connected to platforms like cokemachineglow as well as hosts the Unpublishable and Archways reading series.
War is Beautiful
In 2017, PowerHouse Books released War Is Beautiful: The New York Times Pictorial Guide to the Glamour of Armed Conflict* (where the author details why he stopped reading The New York Times), authored by David Shields. Shields utilized licensed images from the Times to illustrate his argument that the newspaper glamorized warfare, particularly during the Iraq War, thereby encouraging public approval and prolonging the hostilities. Despite having obtained proper licensing for the photographs, The Times billed PowerHouse Books $19,000 for the book’s inside back cover, which displayed 64 small images representing photos that appeared on the Times’ front page. When PowerHouse declined to pay this fee, The Times initiated legal action to recover the amount.
PowerHouse counter-sued Shields for asserting that the thumbnails qualified as fair use but maintained their defense of the book, accusing The Times of attempting to suppress free expression. According to reports from The Daily Beast, The Times initially sought to amend the book’s subtitle and add a disclaimer clarifying no affiliation with the newspaper; however, PowerHouse rejected these conditions.
Publications
- All of a Sudden, a 1995 work by American photographer Jack Pierson
- The Destruction of Lower Manhattan, originally published in 1969 by American photographer Danny Lyon, reissued in 2008
- Yes We Can: Barack Obama's History-Making Presidential Campaign, featuring images by Armenian-American photojournalist Scout Tufankjian; the initial print run of 55,000 copies sold out a month prior to release, leading to a subsequent printing of 25,000 copies
References
External links
- Book publishing firms located in New York (state)
- Publishers specializing in visual arts
- Publishing houses founded in 1995
- Dumbo, Brooklyn
- Independent bookstores within New York City
- Brooklyn-based bookstores
- Bookstores founded in the 20th century
- 1995 establishments in New York City
- Independent bookstores in New York City