I wanted to share this picture with you today taken by Denton Taylor a while ago.
I shared it in this article but it did not mean so much to me then as I wasn’t familiar with her work. That all changed recently when I came upon her book Just Kids and I’m completely transfixed.
Instead of reading it, I listened to Just Kids through Audible which was recounted by Patti herself and made it even more powerful.
The story is a powerful one. Not only does it paint a mesmerizing picture of New York in the late 60s and 70s (all the more meaningful to me now as I came to know New York much better last year) it is also a celebration of art and illustrates how powerful and profound friendship can be.
The book chronicles her friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe, who became a celebrated artist and photographer himself, and how they each helped eachother to find confidence in themselves and their art. They started with nothing and barely enough money to live on and it’s so interesting to read how their journey led them to what they became.
You may enjoy this video where she shares some stories of the book and even sings 2 songs.
Of course her style is not conventional, but I like that she is staying so true to herself and that she shows an air of confidence and complete self acceptance.
Needless to say I highly recommend Just Kids Just which is beautifully written (it also won the national book award). Her latest book M Train is a follow-up to her earlier book.
Is Patti Smith an icon for you? Have you read the book(s)?
Photography by Denton Taylor
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Sylvia is 40+style’s editor-in-chief and has been helping women find their unique style since 2011. An alumni of the School of Color and Design, she is devoted to empowering women of any age to look and feel their best. Read more about Sylvia and 40+style on this page.
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I feel like a dork. But I hardly knew her. Will read/listen.
Of course being a New Yorker of her generation I have known and follower her for decades, and have owned not only her LPs but some of her poetry books as well. And of course Mapplethorpe is one of my favorite photographers. The Getty Museum is doing a show of Mapplethorpe’s works currently, with a catalog to match.
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/mapplethorpe/
‘Just Kids’ is such a beautiful memoir. I have ‘M Train’ and will start reading it soon.
Oh Sylvia, Patti has been a huge icon of mine since I was about 30 – wish I’d found her earlier. She’s certainly her own woman, though that doesn’t mean there isn’t a very fragile soul in there. Please do look out her music and poetry (spesh if you dont mind bad language!) “Land” is a good compliation. Such power and delicateness all in one,such fragile femininity and bullish androgyny all in one; peerless. <3
I fell for Patti Smith last year through Just Kids. I’m not much for poetry, so that part of her work doesn’t do much for me. M Train is beautiful. I regularly look through iTunes for interviews with her to hear her stories and the way she talks and laughs – did you know that the New Your Public Library has a podcast? It’s really cool. Patti’s style is so simple and basic and probably easy – no stress about what to wear. She’s an example of letting your work, and not your makeup and hair, speak.