Jerry Schatzberg at Fotografiska

(This article was initially published in Livein Magazine).

I’m standing in one of those big old freight elevators you normally see in movies about artists from the 60s and 70s. It’s very slow, and while I’m in there, I imagine that I’m going to an artist’s party in his studio.

That’s not that far away from the truth. The sixth floor, where the elevator stops, was once the studio of Jerry Schatzberg, a New York photographer. This was where he took the shots that made him famous.

The place that was once a salon able to host dozens of people is now quiet. Other than me, there are two couples looking through the photographs and a man working at a small table next to the bar, where you can get coffee and drinks if you buy a special ticket.

A Bob Dylan song is playing. That’s because he was one of Schatzberg’s models, and a photograph of him is one of the most famous among all. In the middle of the room, there is a small stage with a screen, where more Schatzberg’s photography is displayed.

You can sit on a purple velvet couch or a green cushioned seat and watch a 5–6 minute slideshow about the photographer’s work.

The pictures are mostly black and white. They are the most evocative: dancers, musicians, scenes from the everyday life of New Yorkers.

The black and white give them a special retro and romantic flavor.

The photographs are hanging all over the walls. Big posters and small framed pictures. My favorite part of the exhibition is a wall with large photographs portraying Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Geoffrey Holder, and Catherine Deneuve.

Schatzberg’s lens also caught The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and Andy Warhol. During his career, the photographer worked for Vogue, Esquire, McCall’s, Glamour, and LIFE, and then successfully tried his hand at filmmaking.

The exhibition is presented by New York’s photography museum Fotografiska on Park Avenue and East 22nd Street, and they encourage everybody to “Have fun. Stay late. Get deep. Spill your drink.”

Maybe next time I’ll stay a little later.

Article by Mary Zakharova

Editing by Joseph R. Fraia

Photos by Joseph R. Fraia — jrfstudio.com and Mary Zakharova