Grande dépression, Albany, État de New York.
Francis Phelan est un homme perdu, un vagabond, un alcoolique, qui, après avoir abandonné sa famille, revient au bercail. Mais alors qu'il tente de reprendre le dessus, il est assailli par les fantômes d'un temps maudit, par toutes ces âmes qu'il a blessées et qui lui demandent des comptes...
« Francis voyait la rue qui s'ouvrait devant lui : Pearl Street, la principale artère de la ville, une ville qui avait été sa ville, et qu'il avait perdue à jamais. Les commerces avec leurs façades lui faisaient un drôle d'effet, tout avait tellement changé, il y en avait plein de nouveaux, des magasins dont il n'avait jamais entendu parler avait fait faillite. Certaines choses n'avaient pas bougé : Whitney's, Myer's, la vieille First Church qui surplombait Clinton Square, la bibliothèque Pruyn. Et, tandis que Francis marchait, les pavés se transformaient en granit, les maisons en magasins, la vie devenait vieille, mourait, se renouvelait, la vision de ce qui avait été et celle de ce qui aurait pu être venaient se rejoindre dans un oeil qui n'était en fait pas en mesure de se rappeler l'une ni de déchiffrer l'autre. Qu'est-ce que tu donnerais, Francis, pour n'être jamais parti ? »
In 1938, Francis Phelan, a murderer, is reduced to flop-houses and hobo jungles. Returning to Albany at the end of the Depression, he roams the familiar streets with his hobo pal Helen, trying to make peace with the ghosts of the past and present.
Before they became two of America's most iconic pop artists, Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana were young aspiring creatives, living in New York. There, they met and befriended William John Kennedy, who would take some of the first photographs of these artists in their career. Many photographers worked with Andy Warhol, but few so early on in his career or in a such a uniquely collaborative fashion. After establishing a friendship with Robert Indiana and taking some of the first, important close-up images of him in his studio, Kennedy went on to work in a similarly creative way with Warhol.
These striking images of the young Warhol and Indiana were lost for nearly 50 years before being rediscovered. They were immediately recognised as important documents by the Warhol Museum and by Robert Indiana, and presented in the Before they were Famous exhibition, which travelled to London and New York. The story of the re-discovery of these photographs was made into an acclaimed documentary in 2010 - Full Circle: Before They Were Famous, Documentary on William John Kennedy.
William John Kennedy: Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana will be the first of William John Kennedy's books devoted solely to the time he spent with Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana. The book features pictures of both artists as well as images of Taylor Mead, UltraViolet and other members of Warhol's circle.
