Long description
The extraordinary story of the richest and most violent gangster in history-his youth, his bid for political power, his domination of the world's cocaine trade, his campaign against the Colombian state during which thousands died, his imprisonment in a luxurious private jail, his escape, and his eventual capture and shooting-is told in hundreds of photographs gathered by photographer James Mollison in Colombia. Exhaustively researched, this visual biography includes photographs from Escobar family albums, pictures by Escobar's bodyguards, pictures from police files (both shot by the police and taken in raids of Escobar's premises), and snapshots by the Federal Drug Administration officer who helped hunt Escobar down. The book contains illuminating interviews with family members, other gangsters, Colombian police and judges, and survivors of Escobar's killing sprees. The text is supplemented by contemporary photographs by Mollison of Escobar's fleet of planes, his private zoo, arms caches captured by the police, and even Escobar's prison jukebox. It is both a compelling picture story and a landmark in visual journalism. This is the original follow-up to James Mollison's James and Other Apes (Chris Boot, 2004). Born of British origin in Kenya, Mollison now lives in Venice. He works as an advertising and editorial photographer, and his work has been widely published throughout the world, including in Colors, The New York Times, the Guardian, and Le Monde