HENRY ROLLINS: 'Occupants' Book Explained

"Occupants", a brand new book of photographs and writings by punk rock icon Henry Rollins, is scheduled for release on September 30.

Regarding how the book came about, Rollins said, "Many years ago, I started working on a collection of photographs for eventual publication. I do a lot of traveling, and as much as I write when I am in these places, a photograph speaks a different language, so I started hauling camera gear around with me everywhere I went and documented moments as best as I could.

"At some point, I upgraded my gear and took a lesson from a woman named Maura on basics and eventually started shooting in manual.

"As I traveled and took more photographs, I came to the conclusion that the book had to be more than merely a collection of images. If you are a real photographer, you could perhaps get away with that, but not me. I am not a photographer, just someone with a lot of visas in his passport and a camera on his shoulder. The last thing I wanted was for someone to think I was being pretentious. I thought about what I could do to make the book be more time intensive on my part, so there would be more for the person who endeavored to get the book. I came to the conclusion that I would write something for each photo. In fact, I would write two things; an impression of the photograph and a caption that provided more of the practical information about where the image was captured, etc.

"The writing was difficult and there was a lot of it to do. I committed myself to completing the project and eventually, it was finished. It ended up being one of the most time intensive projects I have ever put myself though. Not only was the writing tasking but I had to teach myself how to process photographs. The learning curve was pretty steep on that part of it, but I think I did OK.

"I decided to call the book 'Occupants'. I figure that's what we are. We get some time on the planet and that's it.

"We are taking pre-orders on the book. In September, I will be flying to Dulles, renting a car and driving down to Musictoday and will sign the first 2,000 pre-ordered books for as long as it takes. Everyone that pre-orders will be automatically entered to win a voicemail greeting by me.

"I have never done a book like 'Occupants' before. We are very excited about this one."