Aside from his own practice, at the time, Scopin worked for fashion photographer Bill King. \u201cI was a good assistant, but I wanted to photograph people as they were. I didn\u2019t want to make the camera too important.\u201d His approach was one of \u201cdecentering\u201d the lens. \u201cI wanted to photograph people\u2019s inner selves, which isn\u2019t naturally possible. Though, in a certain way, I believe I found an approach: everyone\u2019s room at the Chelsea was more or less their inner self,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Documenting these spaces was a focal point for Scopin. The character of each interior came through as brilliantly as the residents themselves. \u201cI was very lucky to see these very strange, expressive rooms,\u201d he says. \u201cThey were on the upper floors, from the eighth to the twelfth, and were absolutely mind-blowing \u2013 different worlds from door to door. You\u2019d meet the people in the elevator, talk to them, and sometimes they\u2019d just invite you to come in.\u201d\u00a0What was it like inside the surreal little worlds that co-existed within the hotel? \u201cGeorge Kleinsinger was a musician who was totally into animals; his room was a jungle,\u201d Scopin recalls. \u201cAnother room was totally empty and white, containing only the silver helium cushions from Warhol and nothing else. It was very extreme.\u201d<\/p>\n Going beyond the \u201cwild years\u201d that turned the hotel into modern myth, Scopin\u2019s lens offers a softer entry point. \u201cIt was wild in the sense that we were open to new ideas. Everybody believed in building up a new world. Naturally, some people experimented with drugs, but that wasn\u2019t the basis. People worked seriously on projects; everybody thought that theirs was the best,\u201d he laughs. \u201cThere were lots of little Andy Warhols around.\u201d<\/p>\n Scopin captured many of his subjects before they\u2019d \u201cmade it\u201d. \u201cPatti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe were already extraordinary. They each brought their own environment with them,\u201d he says. \u201c[Other residents] liked to be photographed and wanted their homes to be documented. Everybody wanted to be recognised as a star. I also painted my camera yellow at the time, so nobody was afraid of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>
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Robert MapplethorpePhotography by Albert Scopin<\/p>\n
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Robert Mapplethorpe Patti SmithPhotography by Albert Scopin<\/p>\n