Hot Damn!

Hunter S. Thompson was an American journalist who became a legendary icon for his antiestablishment and counter culture lifestyle. Known for his contribution to American political writing, he is best known for his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which was later turned into a film staring Johnny Depp. Hunter lived a life that few can imagine and many have tried to emulate. Chloe Sells worked as a personal assistant for Hunter from 2003 until his death in 2005. This new book combines Sells’ photographs of Hunter’s home —documenting the interior, his possessions and handwritten notes—with landscape of Aspen, Colorado, and her recollections of her time spent working with him. Some of Sells’ hand-printed photographs have been overlaid with traditional marbling techniques from Italy and Japan, to create a psychedelic ride through the home of one of the most brilliant writers of our time. ‘Officially, I was a personal assistant. Unofficially, I did anything and everything that needed doing. One night, Hunter beckoned me to his chair in the kitchen and said, ‘So, you say you’re a photographer. Well, Taschen is doing a book of my photographs,’ followed by a mocking ‘Ha, Ha.’ I didn’t mind; Hunter was Hunter. A moment later his face changed, and, looking sheepish and sorry for bullying his young assistant, he began to explain that almost his whole life had been documented—except for his home—the ramshackle, remarkable creative heartland that was Owl Farm. It needed to be visually archived, he said to me, and it was mine to photograph if I liked.’