ohmynoel: ohmynoel: Lou Reed, Ernie Thormahlen and Rachel Humphreys at the San Francisco Internation
ohmynoel: ohmynoel: Lou Reed, Ernie Thormahlen and Rachel Humphreys at the San Francisco International Airport by Michael Zagaris, 1974. “This was in 1974. I was on assignment for Creem magazine. Charles Auringer had assigned me and Lester Bangs was doing a big interview with Lou [Reed]. Over a three-day period I shot him at Winterland and that was the famous concert where he either simulated or didn’t simulate shooting up on stage. At the very least, it was great performance art.” “We ended up going to SFO [San Francisco international airport] a day and a half later, where Lou had a red-eye. There was Lou, Rachel – who he was living with at the time – Ernie [Thormahlen], who was on the back of his album and he’s actually in my book, and his publicist. Lou went to the bathroom at one point, came out, got a paper. There’s a series in my book of him pulling out the newspaper. I think the headline on it was Skyjacker Kills Hostage. And he proceeded to stand against the wall with papers all over the place. Then he walked away, stood and lit a cigarette, which you can’t do anymore. It’s one of my favorite shots and Lou kind of spoke to Total Excess. He had bleached hair at the time and it’s one of those really strong images, even if it’s just a person, not Lou Reed.”“That afternoon before we left for the airport, I had developed most of the black and whites and I was showing Lou the proof sheet of him tying off and shooting up. He goes, ‘Hey man, this is beautiful.’ And I said, ‘Don’t worry, nobody’s gonna see these.’ He said, ‘No, no, can you blow up 6 of these, maybe 11 by 14? I’ll give them as gifts.’”— Michael Zagaris -- source link