Terry Richardson Book Shows Photographer's Mother, Father (PHOTOS)

This explains so much.

Terry Richardson's got a new book coming out and this time it's not about models nor celebs. The subjects are of a more intimate variety (as if that was possible for Terry): his parents.

In a book called simply "Mom & Dad," published by British publisher Morel Books, the iconic photographer turned the lens on his eccentric family, showing his mother in all her smoking, bird-flipping, gap-toothed glory.

Richardson's dad, Bob Richardson, also is seen smoking but he appears to be the calmer of the two -- it would seem Richardson gets his looks from his father (spitting image, non?) and his playful, foul-mouthed irreverence from his mother.

The 2-volume set follows each parent over time, depicting Terry's father through illness till his eventual death and Terry's mother after an accident left her partially paralyzed.

But the pictures themselves, of course, as much about Terry as they are about his parents. The plaid, the glasses, the oversized grins -- seeing these pictures, Terry Richardson makes so much more sense.

See more photos at MorelBooks.com.