Bootsy Holler presents 'MAKiNG iT'

Third Place Books welcomes photographer Bootsy Holler to our Seward Park store for a conversation about her new book, MAKiNG iT: An Intimate Documentary of the Seattle Indie, Rock & Punk Scene, 1992–2008. Part photo album, part art installation, part nostalgia trip, this visually stunning book invites readers backstage with the bands that would define the turn of the millennium.

"I was documenting my life. The musicians, promoters and bouncers were my friends, and I went to see bands I enjoyed and places I could get in for free. I didn't know I was in the middle of something new." —Bootsy Holler

This event is free and open to the public. For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!

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This event is free to attend. For important updates, registration is highly recommended in advance.

Holler's photographic time capsule of Seattle's music scene captures the early years of Interpol, Fleet Foxes, Death Cab for Cutie, Foo Fighters and more

As an avid fan of Seattle's music scene during the late 1990s and early 2000s, photographer Bootsy Holler created a remarkable portfolio documenting the little-known bands who later defined a decade in music history. She captured live gigs, band portraits, backstage moments, rapt audiences and more, chronicling the formative years of artists such as Death Cab for Cutie, Fleet Foxes, Interpol, Modest Mouse, Gossip, Beck, Moby, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Foo Fighters. Says Holler: "I was documenting my life. The musicians, promoters and bouncers were my friends, and I went to see bands I enjoyed and places I could get in for free. I didn't know I was in the middle of something new."
With open spine binding and cold glue bright orange thread, this collection of Holler's energetic, raw images, together with her own personal recollections, reflects on the second generation of Seattle's music scene, as the world transitioned from celluloid to digital, grunge to indie. It is a pilgrimage back in time, a nostalgic trip for anyone who cherishes music or yearns for a time when nobody texted or had a camera in their pocket. The book opens with a nod to a truly independent woman, with a foreword from Megan Jasper, CEO of Sub Pop Records.

Bootsy Holler is an artist and photographer best known for her work as a portraitist, beginning with intimate depictions of herself and her friends at the center of Seattle’s pivotal music scene during the 1990s and 2000s. The Society of Photographic Journalism has recognized her, and her art has appeared in numerous publications over her 30 years of photography: VOGUE, House & Garden, NPR, LENSCRATCH fine art, and Chinese Photographer Magazine, to name a few. In 2020, she was invited to exhibit at the Shanghai International Photo Festival. She has shown at institutions including Photo London, Fotofever, Paris, California Museum of Photography, and The Center for Fine Art Photography. Her seminal work lives in the permanent collection of the Grammy Museum. MAKiNG iT: An Intimate Documentary of the Seattle Indie, Rock, and Punk Scene is her third monograph and is being published by Damiani Books and will be at Paris Photo 2025.

About Third Place Books

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.

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