© Photographs by Stephen Marc

"This timely book presents a rollicking swing through the rambunctious diversity inscribing our country today. Rather than paper over our societal divisions, Marc's vibrant pictures celebrate our cultural multiplicity and assertiveness, for it is here that he locates what it is to be American."
—John Rohrbach, Senior Curator of Photographs, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and author of Accommodating Nature: The Photographs of Frank Gohlke

"Time IS the essence for two superb and significant books published during the past year about two leading Arizona photographers, Mark Klett and Stephen Marc. Mark Klett: Seeing Time, Forty Years of Photographs (University of Texas Press) and American / True Colors (George F. Thompson Publishing) should be on the shelf or table of anyone interested in photographers of our great state. ... while Stephen Marc's work of the last twelve years has focused on moments of time at community events across America such as parades, protests, historic site events, rallies and ceremonies. For over two decades, he has focused his art on social justice, race and everyday struggles in communities."
—Jim Ballinger, Director Emeritus of Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona Photography Alliance (click for photos and article here)

"In 1831, French visitor Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States, a still-young nation, and returned home convinced he had seen a self-determined and even arrogant people who existed nowhere else on the planet. By then, Andrew Jackson had claimed the White House for a cross-section of voters who might be best described as the "little guy" (so long as the little guy looked like him). But his feat occurred while Sojourner Truth had already fled slavery only to return to successfully sue her master for selling her son. She had help from someone who looked like Jackson, too.
     "American/True Colors puts on display the audacity of a people who strangely emerge. Some manifest like a drunk uncle who, despite his perceived flaws, is still family. More than enough has happened in recent years to show how we boldly sort through such a contradiction and often without ever saying as much. As did Walker Evans, Jacob Riis, and Gordon Parks, among others, a snapshot of that "sorting through" is offered in Stephen Marc's compelling photographs. They deftly illuminate our complicated times when everyone still gets to make claims, however violently and troubling, on the possibilities of the American dream. This persistent and audacious claiming is what makes America still special. Whether we are hoisting up or kneeling before the flag, we unflatten the hurdles to becoming the family we already are—whether we like it or not."
—Sharony Green, Associate Professor of History, University of Alabama, and author of Remember Me to Miss Louisa: Hidden Black-White Intimacies in Antebellum America

"Street work in photography requires a myriad of skills. Social skills require photographers to interact with their subjects, put them at ease, and establish trust while at the same time becoming invisible, thus permitting the photographer to work. Technical skills require photographers to calculate the exposure and focus and make numerous split-second decisions in regard to camera position, lighting, and framing. These skills are mastered over years of practice, and, although they are critical to creating a successful image, in the hands of an experienced photographer, when done with mastery and precision, they take a back seat to subject matter.
     "The street photographs by Stephen Marc are made with the precision we expect from a seasoned photographer. Marc's strong compositions and his use of color and framing allow his subjects to scream off the page in this beautifully designed book. In the current political environment of America, we all need to view and pay close attention to what Stephen Marc is sharing with us through his photographs, aptly titled American/True Colors."
—David Scheinbaum, Professor Emeritus and former Director/Chair of the Photography Department, College of Santa Fe, and author of Hip-Hop: Portraits of an Urban Hymn and, with Janet Russek, Remnants: Photographs of the Lower East Side

"Stephen Marc's photographs in American/True Colors, are a celebration of the complexity of life in America, and each image provides a window into the soul of this beautiful and great country. This book is nothing less than a modern-day road trip through time and space, where the individual and collective American consciousness is made manifest. American/True Colors, with Stephen Marc at the wheel, is a trip you'll want to go on."
—Carlos Diaz, photographer and Professor in the Center for Creative Studies, College of Art and Design