Celebrity Photographer Manny Hernandez to Appear at Miami Book Fair
It’s only fitting that celebrity photographer Manny Hernandez would publish a book. He has for years maintained a personal bookshelf filled with signed titles from a range of authors including his mentor, photographer Ron Galella, to countless presidents (think: Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford, and George W. Bush) and famous artists (we’re talking James Rosenquist and Salvador Dali.) Now Hernandez – arguably Miami’s most established and prolific person behind the lens — has complied a collection of glossy pages that will showcase both his career and our city throughout its most celebrity-stacked decade, the 1990s.
“CANDIDS Miami” is the first in the series of three books Hernandez will publish and it contains a dramatic and colorful selection of his most admired photos. All of them were taken in Miami except two of David Bowie in Fort Lauderdale and one of Celine Dion with Tiffany Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Hernandez is hard-pressed to pick a favorite but will talk about a Gianni Versace candid in the front of the designer’s Ocean Drive mansion, which happens to be the same spot he was murdered.
“At the time they were building his house,” says Hernandez. “In the background you can see the construction and the two-by-fours. So it’s a powerful photo, though I’ve photographed Versace many times. Back then lots of designers — Versace, Donna Karan, Russell Simmons, Kenneth Cole — were opening up stores on Washington Avenue and Ocean Drive, and I was hired to shoot them.”
That’s one reason Hernandez is no stranger to being published on widely-read pages, as has his work has appeared in world renown outlets for more than 28 years. While covering Miami’s essence in arts, fashion, celebrities and pop culture, his pictures have been sought after by editors at Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Vogue, The London Mirror, and countless other publications. CNN aired his photos when Prince died, while VH1 and dozens of documentaries have relied on Hernandez’ work to create for their own viewers a strong celebrity impact.
In conjunction with his book, Hernandez has also published six separate prints — Versace, Celia Cruz, Selena, the Bee Gees in the recording studio, and two of Prince — which can be purchased in conjunction with CANDIDS Miami on WynwoodBooks.com. Each one contains Hernandez’ embossed signature and is an 8-by-10 piece frameable work.
Hernandez’ next stop is the Miami Book Fair, where he’ll speak on Sunday at 2 p.m. at 300 NE Second Avenue, Building 7, 1st Floor, Room 7128.
Brett Graff is SocialMiami.com’s managing editor and has been a journalist covering money, people and power for over 20 years. Graff contributes to national media outlets including Reuters, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, Maxim, and the PBS show, Nightly Business Report. A former U.S. government economist, her nationally syndicated column The Home Economist is first published in The Miami Herald and then on the Tribune Content Agency, where it’s available to over 400 publications nationwide. She is broadcast weekly on two iHeartRadio news shows and is the author of “Not Buying It: Stop Overspending & Start Raising Happier, Healthier, More Successful Kids,” a parenting guide for people who might be tempted to buy their children the very obstacles they’re trying to avoid.
