Presenting Celia Cruz

CLARKSON POTTER, 144 PAGES, $45

IN THE PHOTO, Celia Cruz is dressed with trademark flamboyance, sporting a fringed red dress and giant auburn wig held in place with sparkly pins. With her eyes downcast as she prepares to take the stage, the legendary "Queen of Salsa" seems contemplative, even prayerful. Celia the entertainer always made it look easy, but in the split-second truth of the photograph, we glimpse the quiet dedication behind Celia the artist.

It's one of many striking images in photographer Alexis Rodriguez-Duarte's new book, Presenting Celia Cruz, a tribute to the late Cuban singer. Noted for capturing the humanity in celebrities such as Gloria Vanderbilt, Madonna and Gianni Versace, Rodriguez-Duartes became Cruz's friend and photographer during the last years of her life. (She died in July 2003.)

"Celia created her own image," Rodriguez-Duarte explains, sitting in the Greenwich Village apartment he shares with his partner and collaborator on the book, Tico Torres. "Nowadays we have stylists that create images for stars; Celia went out and bought her own bangles; she bought her own shoes. She created her own style."

Cruz's outrageousness came from something real inside of her, an exuberance that also found expression in her music. By the mid-1950s she was one of Cuba's most popular singers, recording a series of now-classic recordings with the Sonora Matancera dance band. She left Cuba around 1960 with trumpeter Pedro Knight (who became her husband in 1962) and never returned.

"Celia was like a little beacon, especially for Cubans in exile," attests Rodriguez-Duarte. Both he and Torres were born in Cuba but raised in Miami. "Celia gave us that sense of pride. Everything that was good about Cuba-that's what Celia means to us."

Although Rodriguez-Duarte captured many revealing images of the singer, he also knew when to keep his distance. This included recognizing that the most intimate exchanges are often played out through simple acts.

"One day, we were backstage and she had just finished performing. She wanted a Coca-Cola. She goes over to the machine, she didn't have her glasses on, and she's like [trying to make out the buttons]: 'Ay, Pedro, let me have some money.' And Pedro gives her the change. I had my camera there, but that was such a private moment that I didn't want to take a picture. Another star would say, 'I want a Coca-Cola!' No, she wasn't like that."

Cruz's influence spanned generations and cultures, but her heart and soul remained with Cuba. One of the book's most powerful moments is found in a small reproduction of a painting by artist Juan Martin. In it, the island is represented in verdant green surrounded by the purest blue. Covering the island is a simple word: "CELIA." Like the book as a whole, it lets the viewer understand who this extraordinary woman was.