Photographer Albert Scopin has released a new book through Kerber Verlag documenting his residency at New York’s iconic Chelsea Hotel between 1969 and 1971. The collection features rare, intimate portraits of the hotel's legendary inhabitants, including a young Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe before their rise to global fame, alongside long-time manager Stanley Bard and avant-garde figures like Vali Myers and Holly Woodlawn. Scopin’s lens captures the 'creative chaos' of the era, from the art-filled lobby to the eccentric private quarters of residents like composer George Kleinsinger.
The publication serves as a vital historical record of the Chelsea Hotel’s role as a sanctuary for the 20th-century avant-garde, where art was often used as currency for rent. By highlighting the intersection of photography, performance, and painting within the hotel's walls, the book underscores the building's unique status as a living monument to bohemian culture. It provides significant insight into the formative years of major art world figures, particularly Mapplethorpe’s transition from collage to photography and the communal spirit that defined the New York art scene of the 1970s.