'Living the Life! The World of Elvis Tribute Artists' New Book Reveals the Heart and Soul of Elvis Impersonators

This new book features photographer Patty Carroll’s colorful portraits of 74 performers, each with his or her own story and unique take on Elvis, reflecting the rich diversity of those who share an obsessive, almost religious attachment to the King.

Chicago (PRWEB) October 17, 2005 -- The new book "Living the Life! The World of Elvis Tribute Artists" reveals the heart and soul of Elvis Impersonators and will take you straight inside the colorful, passionate world of Elvis Tribute Artists.

It features photographer Patty Carroll’s colorful portraits of 74 performers, each with his or her own story and unique take on Elvis, reflecting the rich diversity of those who share an obsessive, almost religious attachment to the King. Here you will see a Japanese female Elvis, a father-son duo, and Elvez, the Hispanic performer from Seattle. For a surprising number of the ETAs, it’s their full-time job; for others, living the life means a balancing act between a day job writing novels or working as a state trooper.

“My photographs are of people being their fantasy, being their own version of Elvis, mixing their own self and the self they would like to be. I try to capture the Elvis inside in a timeless photograph,” says Patty Carroll.

Always an Elvis fan, Patty Carroll started attending Elvis impersonator performances at clubs, competitions and conferences in the early 1990s, setting up on-site studios to capture the performers in full Elvis regalia. Along the way, she developed a rapport with the artists and a sympathetic understanding of this unique subculture’s obsessive, almost religious, attachment to the King.

In the afterword, Bill Henderson, Elvis impersonator and novelist, says it best, “So, thank you, Patty. I and several hundred other Elvis impersonators owe you a great debt. In this crazy world where everyone chases the image, you made us real.”

Patty’s photographs are in major U.S. museums, many private collections and books. She teaches photography at the School of the Art Institute and Columbia College in Chicago. Patty’s photos of popular cultures subjects can be found at http://www.pattycarroll.com.

In the highly entertaining foreword, Andrei Codrescu, of NPR fame, recalls his Memphis immersion in the Elvis world with its impersonator high priests.

Living the Life! The World of Elvis Tribute Artists is available at Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and through http://www.elimpersonators.com for $10.00 (plus shipping.) It is published by Verve Editions, Burlington, Vermont. To access an online press kit with more photos and book highlights, link to http://www.elimpersonators.com/presskit.html

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