The Chelsea Hotel has been an iconic hub of the art and music scene since the 1960s. Between 1969 and 1971, Albert Scopin lived there while assisting photographers Mikel Avedon and Bill King. Using a simple Kodak Instamatic, he captured life inside the hotel – direct, unposed, and often without even looking through the viewfinder.
Now, the works are being presented comprehensively for the first time: the FWR Galerie Berlin shows around 30 photographs alongside the release of a book dedicated to the series. Exhibition and publication offer a rare glimpse into the Chelsea Hotel of those years – raw, intimate, and full of energy.
Scopin’s images portray a generation on the rise, including a young Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, as well as filmmakers such as Wim Wenders, Rosa von Praunheim, Miloš Forman, and Jonas Mekas. They show the Warhol crowd staging a play, staff parties in the basement, and quiet moments on the rooftop overlooking a city waiting to be conquered. Short texts by the artist and an interview complete the book, offering an unusually close look behind the façade of one of the world’s most legendary hotels.
For decades, the photographs were considered lost. After Scopin sent them to ZEITmagazin in 1970, the originals were never returned. Only in 2016 did negatives and prints unexpectedly resurface – their journey remains unresolved to this day.
SCOPIN | CHELSEA HOTEL
Edited by: Albert Scopin Schöpflin; Galerie Ahlers, Göttingen
Texts by: Albert Scopin Schöpflin, Michael Stoeber
Design: Arno Dietsche, Grenzach-Wyhlen
176 pages, 118 color illustrations, softcover
ISBN 978-3-7356-1046-1, Kerber Verlag
GoSee : kerberverlag.com