Former Fresnan photographs Fresno for upcoming book

Tony Stamolis was born & raised here in Fresno but now is a NYC based photographer who’s past work includes gigs for The New York Times, Rolling Stone & Maxim among others. Superstar status indeed. Later this month, he will release a book entitled Frezno which is described as so on the publishers web site:

Though it once held the promise of the California dream, inspiring the likes of Steinbeck and Saroyan, Fresno is now the butt of a thousand late-night TV jokes; it consistently comes in next to dead last in surveys of cities with a high quality of life. This central California teenage wasteland—with an ethnically diverse population of Basques, Hispanics, African-Americans, Vietnamese, and Armenians—is home to lowriders, empty buildings, dope drops, and one of the highest violent-crime rates in the country. It is also the birthplace of photographer Tony Stamolis, who spent six years chronicling his strange hometown. The result: a disturbing, often humorous, and always poignant insider’s view of a post-suburban American badlands.

Dope. I hope locals don’t get offended by this book and make a big stink about it (you know how we do) cause it looks pure awesome and from the excerpts I’ve seen, the pics look awesome! We all know Fresno ain’t the perfect city but that’s what makes us Fresno: the crazy uncle that no one wants to fuck with! I totally embrace that moniker. Plus, just looking through these pics, I love trying to figure out where in our fair city these pics were taken. It’s like a scavenger hunt! Down below are posted some of the pics I’ve found on the net and if you want more, check out here and here. We’re working to get some more info on the book real soon but for now, if your interested in buying the book, it’s available for pre-order over here at Amazon. Now I’m just wondering when & where the book signing will happen here in town.