For the majority of his decades-long career, Norman Rockwell relied on a camera to help him render the iconic scenarios born in his imagination. Photograph by photograph, he painstakingly assembled the specific features he sought for his envisioned illustration, projecting whole or partial pictures of amateur models, objects and settings onto drafting paper, and from there, onto canvas. Many of Rockwell's most famous works - including those reproduced for LIFE and the Saturday Evening Post - began behind the lens. Uncanny in their approximation to his final paintings and unknown outside a small circle of Rockwell specialists, his study photographs are among the most evocative ever taken by a painter and undoubtedly cast his brushwork in a new light.

Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera is the first book to explore the meticulously composed and richly detailed photographs that Norman Rockwell used to create his famous artworks. Working alongside skilled photographers, Rockwell acted as director, carefully orchestrating models, selecting props, and choosing locations for the photographs--works of art in their own right--that served as the basis of his iconic images. Readers will be surprised to find that many of his most memorable characters-the girl at the mirror, the young couple on prom night, the family on vacation-were friends and neighbors who served as his amateur models. In this groundbreaking book, author and historian Ron Schick delves into the archive of nearly 20,000 photographs housed at the Norman Rockwell Museum. Featuring reproductions of Rockwell's black-and-white photographs and related full-color artworks, along with an incisive narrative and quotes from Rockwell models and family members, this book will intrigue anyone interested in photography, art, and Americana.