Christopher Makos, David Croland and Grace Jones. From “White Trash Uncut” by Christopher Makos, © 2014, published by Glitterati Incorporated
Christopher Makos is one half on the Hilton Brothers, the legendary photography duo. However, the photographer is also famous in his own right, both for his connections to the art world (he showed Andy Warhol how to use a camera) and his photos of the punk rock scene of the 70s and 80s, featuring Debbie Harry, John Lennon and Jean Michel Basquiat (the last of which is available to buy on Sleek-Art.net now). Makos’s book, “White Trash”, has just been reissued as an “uncut” version, and comprises a behind-the-scenes look at the scene that asked its members: who are you, really?
Your book “White Trash” is a display of the punk rock scene in the 70s and 80s in New York City. What was the atmosphere like back then?
CM: It was very special moment in the 70s and 80s in New York City. Many Europeans were coming to town and it was still before the AIDS crisis, so there was a certain openness: a new sense of freedom, which has been quite unique in my experience.
How did you find your place in that scene at the time?
CM: All you had to do was to go out to a party and all the players would be there, whether it was Andy Warhol or Debbie Harry or Halston. Today people push a button on Facebook to ask someone to become their friends. But then you actually saw someone and asked them “will you be my friend?“ or “do you want to go for a drink?”.
Of course it was always easier if you were pretty and fresh-on-the-scene. If you were short and fat this didn’t happen unless you were a lot of fun – or a good dancer.
The book was published 40 years ago. How do you think that the perception of the book has changed with time?
To me it is very interesting that many people still relate to “White Trash” and this time because of the fashion aspect – because of the way that people dressed. There is this one picture in the book where a friend of mine is wearing cigarette butts around her neck. My friend Shelly was dating someone at the Warhol factory, so she was always hanging out there. Back then everybody in New York was smoking, especially at the factory. The people that hung out there, like Mick Jagger or Bianca Jagger and all the other usual suspects would put their cigarette butts down and then we collected them and turned them into necklaces, which we sold at Bergdorf and Goodmans. So really they became a fashion statement in its true sense – I wish I still had them.
The scene in White Trash is really valued as music and fashion, and not so much for this change of view that was going on at the time – this new urge of liberation. The people I portrayed were really changing the tone of the generation, like Tennessee Williams or Alice Cooper.
Christopher Makos, Debbie Harry, Stand-Up A. From White Trash Uncut by Christopher Makos, © 2014, published by Glitterati Incorporated.
In what ways was this title “White Trash” an appropriate fit?
CM: In the 70s and 80s a lot of the rich sons and daughters of European families would come to New York and just assume that they could simply enter the scene because of their background. We called those people Eurotrash. You know, it is always the very rich people and the very poor people that really do whatever they want to do. It’s the middle class who are usually stuck with maintaining their status. When poor people dance and go out, they don’t have anything to lose, and the same is true for rich people – except for the fact that they have a lot more money of course. This sort of exuberance was a big part of the scene at the time and was an expression of the freedom to be who you are.
This is also what “White Trash” is about – understanding that these photographs are of people who actually found out who they are. If this document, both then and now, can actually pass this idea on, to find out who you are and be the best version of it, then the book is a success.
Find out more about Christopher Makos, and buy his art on Sleek-Art.net
White Trash Uncut by Christopher Makos
Published by Glitterati Incorporated
www.GlitteratiIncorporated.com
Text by Anneli Botz