Carl Apfelschnitt, James Chance, Madonna, Stephen Sprouse… How Kate Simon covered Manhattan’s cultural waterfront for The Face in the 80s
//A Prayer For Madonna, The Face, September 1983. Photography: Kate Simon, text: James Truman. This was the superstar’s first substantial UK press appearance, five months ahead of her British live debut//
Of the many talented photographers who provided The Face with its visual verve, Kate Simon was uniquely positioned to chronicle the cutting edge cultural developments in New York in the 1980s.
Simon had spent much of the previous decade in London, photographing musicians and performers from Bob Marley and David Bowie to the Sex Pistols and The Clash (whose debut album features her striking portrait of Strummer, Jones and Simonon). Crucially, Simon’s work also appeared in the New Musical Express during The Face founder Nick Logan’s editorship of the music paper.
In 1981, when Logan appointed ex-pat James Truman New York columnist of The Face, the freshly-launched title became a conduit for an information exchange between Manhattan and London, with Simon’s images providing visual amplification.
//Deco: James Chance at Radio City Music Hall, The Face, May 1982. Photography: Kate Simon; text: James Truman//
Recently I chose enlargements of double page spreads from the magazine featuring Simon’s era-defining photos of Madonna and James Chance for my exhibition The Story Of The Face at the Sonos store in NYC’s SoHo.
I also took the opportunity to catch up with Simon and quiz her about some key images and significant people in her swim in New York in the 80s. There is of course a poignancy to Simon’s photography from the decade, not least because many in Simon’s milieu lost their lives to AIDS.
Here’s Simon, in her own words:
Robert Mapplethorpe died in March 1989, Cookie Mueller died the following November and then Carl Apfelschnitt and Keith Haring died in May and November 1990 respectively. I knew and photographed them all.
It’s worth pointing out that the photos for The Face were taken earlier, at a more innocent and experimental time.
I remember going to James’ studio on 14th Street for the first time when he called me about working for the magazine. Having lived in England, we had an affinity, but the main reason for me to work for The Face was always Nick Logan; he’s a really impressive editor so when the chance came I jumped at it. Trust me, it wasn’t because of the money… because there was none!
I was also very happy with Nick’s quality standards, particularly the paper stock – this is what we photographers think about – as well as the print reproduction and art direction.
//Artist Carl Apfelschnitt with one of his works, New York, 1989. Photo © Kate Simon #katesimon No reproduction without permission//
It was great for me to introduce the gifted people I knew to James so that their work received wider recognition. I introduced James to Carl Apfelschnitt and remember that James liked him. It was kind of an easy sell, because Carl was an artist’s artist, respected by John Giorno, William Burroughs, all those guys. Carl was very important to me because he taught me, a neophyte at the time, all about the art world and how to navigate it. I miss him greatly.
//Fashion designer Stephen Sprouse, New York 1981. Photo © Kate Simon #katesimon No reproduction without permission//
I also introduced James to Stephen Sprouse as a subject for The Face. When I met Stephen, he was an unknown, a great illustrator who’d worked for Halston. He was also a brilliant artist, using the only colour Xerox machine in the city at that time to make huge pieces from my archive, transforming photos of Pierre Clementi or The Clash into brilliant artworks.
Like Carl, Stephen also taught me, through his behaviour, about what it was to be an artist. Where we lived, and where I still live, near Carnegie Hall, was known as an artists’ neighbourhood. These days it’s Billionaire’s Row. Last week I couldn’t even find an envelope for a 16 x 20″ print at the The Art Students League…
I met Stephen through Patti Smith’s keyboard player Richard Sohl. My studio where I am now was Stephen’s at that time. He was very close to Debbie Harry, as was I; we all lived in the same building. I’d drop in to this studio and find vast canvases which he’d ripped up because he didn’t think they were good enough. That had a big impact on me.
//The portrait Simon took on the roof of her apartment block in the summer of 1983 as it appeared in The Face//
One day James called me and said that I had to photograph somebody named ‘Jellybean’ and another person named ‘Madonna’. I was working on something else at the time and thought, “you’re kidding…” So, anyway, I went to a disco to shoot Jellybean [Benitez, Madonna’s partner and producer] and Madonna came by with [her friend and dancer, the actress] Debi Mazar.
I was immediately struck by Madonna’s magic; the way she worked with me, the photographer. Those people are always fascinating. They don’t rely on an arsenal of poses but remain in the present. This has happened to me only a few times with others: William Burroughs, Bob Marley, Patti Smith. Louise Bourgeois, certain individuals just really have it.
That day I took Madonna up to the roof, because I like to work with available light, and – I hate to use the word because it’s cliched and insufficient but it’ll have to do – she just smouldered. I couldn’t believe it.
//Close-up on James Chance in Kate Simon’s portrait in The Face, May 1982//
I’d worked with James Chance when he appeared on [early 80s public access cable TV show] TV Party, where I was one of the co-hosts. James came up with the idea of being photographed at Radio City and to his credit cut through all the red tape to make it happen.
In the event he and I were the only people in the whole place that day; it was amazing, just wouldn’t happen these days. I had no assistant, so did the readings and light adjustments myself with the aim of retaining the amber, Deco feel. It came out pretty much how I wanted it.
Visit Kate Simon’s site here. Her photography will feature in the hotly anticipated illustrated edition of Patti Smith’s Just Kids, which is out in October.
In 2014 Simon talked about Mummies, Carl Apfelschnitt’s book collaboration with William Burroughs, with SHOWStudio’s Niamh White. Listen here.
The Story Of The Face x New York is at Sonos in Greene Street, SoHo, NYC until April 28. More details here.