Screen Tests / A Diary

Originally published in 1967, Screen Tests / A Diary is one of the most distinctive collaborations to emerge from Andy Warhol’s Silver Factory. Pairing still images from Warhol’s experimental film portraits with poetry by Gerard Malanga, the book captures an extraordinary community of artists, writers, musicians, performers, and cultural figures at a pivotal moment in New York’s creative history.

During the mid-1960s, Warhol and Malanga created a series of silent film portraits known as Screen Tests. These intimate studies challenged conventional ideas of portraiture. Rather than recording performances or carefully staged appearances, the films concentrated on presence itself, allowing the character of each subject to emerge through stillness, duration, and observation.

For Screen Tests / A Diary, Malanga selected images from these films and paired them with his poetry, creating a singular intersection of cinema, photography, and literature. The subjects include Jane Holzer, Allen Ginsberg, Lou Reed, Edie Sedgwick, Nico, Piero Heliczer, Benedetta Barzini, Marisa Berenson, Jonas Mekas, Marie Menken, Mary Woronov, Paul Morrissey, and Billy Name, among others.

Originally issued as a limited-edition artist’s book, Screen Tests / A Diary became a defining document of the Factory period, preserving the creative exchange between Warhol’s cinematic vision and Malanga’s poetic voice.

This restored edition was produced with the guidance and supervision of Gerard Malanga. The original vintage 4 × 5-inch film materials from his archive were carefully scanned and restored. Because many of the images in the 1967 edition were inadvertently cropped during printing, this edition presents the complete frames for the first time as Malanga originally intended.

Featuring a new introduction by Malanga and previously unpublished archival photographs, Screen Tests / A Diary offers a renewed view of a landmark collaboration and the influential creative community that surrounded it. More than a book of portraits, it is a time capsule of the artists, personalities, and friendships that defined the Factory years.