PowerHouse Books (stylized as powerHouse Books) is an independent publisher of art and photography books founded in 1995 by Daniel Power, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, with its headquarters in

Industry City Industry City (also Bush Terminal) is a historic intermodal shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex on the Upper New York Bay waterfront in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The northern portion, commonly cal ...

. PowerHouse Books is closely affiliated with Powerhouse Bookstores, a chain of independent bookstores also owned by Daniel Power, with its flagship location on the waterfront of

DUMBO ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy Comedy drama, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film i ...

in The PowerHouse Arena at 28 Adams Street. Powerhouse Books also operates a children's' publishing division, POW!

Publishing and other activities

Founded in 1995 by Daniel Power from his apartment on the Lower East Side, PowerHouse Books is known for its "Image Driven" publishing, particularly in street culture, popular culture, fashion, politics and fine arts. Its first best-seller was ''Women Before 10AM,'' by Veronique Vial, with a foreword by

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is known for his intense leading man roles in film. List of awards and nominations received by Sean Penn, His accolades include two Academy Awards, a Golden Gl ...

, published in 1998. In 2011, PowerHouse published ''

Vivian Maier Vivian Dorothy Maier (February 1, 1926 – April 21, 2009) was an American Street photography, street photographer whose work was discovered and recognized after her death. She took more than 150,000 photographs during her lifetime, primarily of ...

: Street Photographer,'' which brought posthumous attention to the previously unknown

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

, including the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-nominated film Finding Vivian Maier. In 2006, powerHouse Books launched The PowerHouse Arena, a gallery, bookstore, and event space often used to promote artists working with the publisher. Initially located at 37 Main Street, Powerhouse Arena moved to 28 Adams Street in 2015. In 2020, PowerHouse Books opened a new location in Industry City, and moved its corporate publishing headquarters there. It also publishes artists known for work in other fields. It partnered with

Charlie Ahearn Charlie Ahearn (born 1951) is an American film maker living in New York City. Although predominantly involved in film and video art production, he is also known for his work as an author, freelance writer, member of Colab, and radio host. He is ma ...

on ''Wild Style: The Sampler'', a behind-the-scenes look at Ahearn's 1982 ''

Wild Style ''Wild Style'' is a 1982 American hip hop film written, produced and directed by Charlie Ahearn. Regarded as the first hip hop motion picture, it includes appearances by seminal figures such as Adam Horowitz, Fab Five Freddy, Lee Quiñones, L ...

'', considered the first hip hop film. Visual artists published include

John Lurie John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; has acted in 19 films, including ''Stranger than Paradise'' and '' Down by Law''; has composed ...

Francesco Clemente Francesco Clemente (born 23 March 1952) is an Italian contemporary artist. He has lived at various times in Italy, India and New York City. Some of his work is influenced by the traditional art and culture of India. He has worked in various a ...

Richard Prince Richard Prince (born August 6, 1949) is an American painter and photographer. In the mid-1970s, Prince made drawings and painterly collages that he has since disowned. His image ''Untitled (Cowboy)'', a photographic reproduction of a photograph ...

Kehinde Wiley Kehinde Wiley (born February 28, 1977) leaving Freddie to raise the couple's six children on her own. 3/sup> Wiley has said that his family survived on welfare checks and the limited income earned by his mother's "thrift store"—which consiste ...

, and

George Condo George Condo (born 1957) is an American visual artist who works in painting, drawing, sculpture and printmaking. He lives and works in New York City. Early life Condo was born in Concord, New Hampshire. He studied art history and musi ...

. Actors and filmmakers published include

Diane Keaton Diane Keaton (née Hall; born January 5, 1946) is an American actress. She has received List of awards and nominations received by Diane Keaton, various accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, including an Academy Award, a Bri ...

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for his Leading actor, leading man roles in film and television. In a career spanning over seven decades, he has received List of awards and nominations received by ...

, Richard Lewis,

Jessica Lange Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. With a career spanning over five decades, she is known for her roles Jessica Lange on screen and stage, on stage and screen. She has received List of awards and nominati ...

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

, and

Brett Ratner Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and producer. He directed the Rush Hour (film series), ''Rush Hour'' film series, ''The Family Man'', ''Red Dragon (2002 film), Red Dragon'', ''X-Men: The Last Stand'', ''Tower Heist ...

. Musicians include

Richard Hell Richard Lester Meyers (born October 2, 1949), better known by his stage name Richard Hell, is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitarist and writer. Hell was in several important early punk rock bands, including Neon Boys, Television (band), ...

DJ Stretch Armstrong Adrian Bartos (born September 30, 1969) known professionally as DJ Stretch Armstrong is a New York-based DJ and music producer, known as a former co-host of hip hop radio show ''The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show'', alongside Bobbito Garcia ...

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin (born February 26, 1953), known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton performed in the hard rock and heavy metal music genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo a ...

Mike McCready Michael David McCready (born April 5, 1966) is an American musician known for being a founding member and lead guitarist of Pearl Jam. McCready was also a member of the side project bands Flight to Mars, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season (band), Ma ...

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from the Bronx. He rose to prominence as part of the ...

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...

, and

The Beastie Boys ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

. PowerHouse Books launched, "POW! Kids Books" in 2013, which it described as "a woke kids' book line" In 2020 it established a literary imprint for "millennial fiction and non-fiction" called Archway Editions with

Chris Molnar Chris Molnar is a writer, editor, filmmaker and publisher. He is the co-founder of The Writer's Block bookstore in Las Vegas, and editorial director of Archway Editions, the literary imprint of powerHouse Books distributed by Simon & Schuster. ...

(of

The Writer's Block The Writer's Block is an independent bookseller, publisher, and literacy educator in downtown Las Vegas. It is the first independent bookstore in Las Vegas and second in the state of Nevada. Its bookstore has been recommended several times by p ...

) and Nicodemus Nicoludis, which has published work by

Ishmael Reed Ishmael Scott Reed (born February 22, 1938) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, composer, playwright, editor and publisher known for his Satire, satirical works challenging American political culture. Perhaps his best-known wor ...

, Christopher Coe,

John Farris John Lee Farris (born July 26, 1936) is an American novelist, screenwriter, and playwright (with occasional short stories and poetry) who first achieved best-seller status at age twenty-three and is most famous as the author of ''The Fury'' ( ...

Paul Schrader Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scor ...

, Mike Sacks,

Stacy Szymaszek Stacy Szymaszek (born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American poet, professor, and former arts administrator. She was the executive director of the Poetry Project at St Mark's church in New York City from 2007 to 2018 and worked at Woodland Patte ...

Blake Butler John David Blake Butler (22 October 1924 – 15 April 1981) was an English actor best known for his role as the lecherous chief librarian Mr. Wainwright during the first and third series of ''Last of the Summer Wine'' in 1973 and 1976 respect ...

Alice Notley Alice Elizabeth Notley (November 8, 1945 – May 19, 2025) was an American poet. Notley came to prominence as a member of the second generation of the New York School of poetry—although she always denied being involved with the New York Schoo ...

, and more, including anthologies from

cokemachineglow ''Cokemachineglow'' was a Canadian webzine dedicated mainly to music criticism, though it also featured articles about local music scenes. It was founded in 2002 and closed down permanently at the end of 2015. In 2006, it was described as one of ...

as well as the Unpublishable and Archways reading series.

Controversies

War is Beautiful

In 2017, PowerHouse Books published "''War Is Beautiful: The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Pictoral Guide to the Glamour of Armed Conflict* (in which the author explains why he no longer reads The New York Times)''," by David Shields. Shields had licensed photography from the Times to support his book's thesis that the Times over-glamorized conflict, especially the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, promoting popular support for the war and elongating the conflict. Although the photos had been properly licensed, The Times invoiced PowerHouse Books $19,000 for the book's inside back cover, which featured 64 thumbnails depicting the photos on the front page of the Times. When PowerHouse refused to pay, the Times sued to collect. PowerHouse sued Shields for claiming that the thumbnails were covered under

fair use Fair use is a Legal doctrine, doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to bal ...

, but defended the book, claiming that the Times was attempting to chill free speech.

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

reported that the Times had initially wanted change the book's subtitle and insert a disclaimer making clear the book wasn't affiliated with the Times, but that PowerHouse refused to do so.

Publications

* ''All of a Sudden'' by American photographer

Jack Pierson Jack Pierson (born 1960 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Plymouth, Massachusetts) is an American photographer and an artist. Pierson is known for his photographs, collages, word sculptures, installations, drawings and artists books. His "Self-Portrait ...

, 1995 * ''The Destruction of Lower Manhattan'' by American photographer

Danny Lyon Danny Lyon (born March 16, 1942) is an American photographer and filmmaker. All of Lyon's publications work in the style of photographic New Journalism, meaning that the photographer has become immersed in, and is a participant of, the document ...

, reissue of 1969 book in 2008 * ''Yes We Can: Barack Obama's History-Making Presidential Campaign'' featuring work of Armenian-American photojournalist Scout Tufankjian; the first printing of 55,000 copies sold out a month before its scheduled release, prompting a second printing of 25,000.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Visual arts publishing companies Publishing companies established in 1995 Dumbo, Brooklyn Independent bookstores of the United States