FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / March 2026
KENTUCKY DERBY 1984 — by Marc Karzen
KENTUCKY DERBY 1984 is a photographic time capsule that drops readers into Louisville during Derby Week as it unfolded forty years ago—unfiltered, unpolished, and alive with contradiction. Shot entirely on film in 1984, this book answers the perennial question, “What’s it like to go to the Kentucky Derby?” with a clear-eyed, boots-on-the-ground honesty that sidesteps the usual pageantry and glossy clichés.
This is not a horse-racing book or a coffee-table celebration of fancy hats. It’s a cultural lifestyle story — about bourbon and backstreets, crowds and chaos, ritual and release — and what it felt like to experience the Kentucky Derby in the ‘80s.
About the Event: The Kentucky Derby in 1984 — In 1984, photographer Marc Karzen set out to document the Kentucky Derby from the inside out. His lens followed the weeklong cultural transformation of Louisville — from side streets downtown to nightclubs and street parties, from Churchill Downs’ backside to the roar of Derby Day itself.
After an encounter with Hunter S. Thompson, Karzen was inspired to take a gonzo photographic point-of-view—placing himself inside the experience rather than observing it from a safe distance. The result is a deeply personal, immersive photo essay that captures the Derby as lived by locals, backside workers, gamblers, dreamers and insiders. The photographs deliver unexpected perspectives served with a cocktail with a twist of grit, echoing the spirit of Thompson and Steadman’s The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved — with its own distinct voice.
The book presents 134 pages of Kodachrome photographs, organized into four sections — Pre-race, Backside, Derby Day, and Post-race — paired with candid anecdotes from people whose lives intersected with Churchill Downs and the Derby culture.
Anecdotes — The book features firsthand stories and reflections from: Tom Amoss, Charlsie Cantey, Kathy Cary, Bill Doolittle, Ed Garber, Ben Isaacs, Dave Johnson, Laffit Pincay Jr., Jamie Saults, and Lee Wagner.
About the Author — Marc Karzen, who grew up in Louisville and has attended 26 Derbies — including Secretariat’s legendary 1973 run — understands the social codes instinctively. As he writes: “Growing up in Louisville, all children are raised knowing by the age of 10 the three most critical lessons that can guide you through your entire life: One — how to make a bourbon on the rocks when asked for your uncle across the living room. Two — how to read a Racing Form. And three — how to slip past security at Churchill Downs and get into the Turf Club and Third-floor Clubhouse.”
Marc Karzen was born in Paris and raised between Louisville, Kentucky, and Los Angeles. His photographic career grew out of Kodachrome-era environmental reportage and evolved through magazine fashion, music portraiture, and on-air television photography for Saturday Night Live and for Late Night with David Letterman. He is the author of the book Late Night Bumpers. His work has received awards and has been shown in gallery exhibitions.
Availability — KENTUCKY DERBY 1984 will be available in March 2026 through:
Amazon — Blurb.com — Arcana Books LA — select bookstores and specialty retailers.
Press and inquiries: Marc Karzen +1 310 990 2376 📧 mk@karzen.com https://www.karzen.com/
Portraits of author Marc Karzen - contact 310-990-2376 mk@karzen.com
MORE AS NEEDED: Link to the entire series of images and firsthand stories and reflections from: Tom Amoss, Charlsie Cantey, Kathy Cary, Bill Doolittle, Ed Garber, Ben Isaacs, Dave Johnson, Laffit Pincay Jr., Jamie Saults, and Lee Wagner: https://www.karzen.com/kyderby84karzen