This month for JANE PRIVÉE Book Club, we are rediscovering Patti Smith’s iconic memoir Just Kids and meditating on the Chapter Eight theme—sing for your supper—which Joan Didion touches on in her essay ‘Some Women’ about Robert Mapplethorpe and the artistic search for truth. Joining us in conversation for this edition of Virtual Book Club is LESSE founder Neada Deters. 

Rosie Dalton: Thanks so much for making the time for our Virtual Book Club discussion. 

Neada Deters: Of course! I've been looking forward to this for weeks and what a pleasure to reread the book. You know, it was nice to have an excuse to read something that wasn’t a professional self-help book, which I’ve been ready a lot of lately. So, thank you. 

Rosie: I know what you mean. Because since having my son, it's just so hard to sit down and finish a whole book. I feel like I'm halfway through so many things. But for this reread, I actually listened to the Just Kids audiobook. 

Neada: So smart!

Rosie: I sometimes do that if I’m doing a lot of driving. But I really enjoyed listening to this one in particular, because Patti Smith actually narrates it, which is amazing.

Neada: Okay, now I need to listen to it. 

Rosie: Yeah, it's quite beautiful, hearing it in her voice. And it's not always the case, even with non-fiction audiobooks. I have listened to Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem as well and it is narrated by Diane Keaton. Which is still really beautiful, but I just think it makes an audiobook so much more special when it’s actually in the author's voice. 

Neada: I think you would get so much from it, because you would hear when something is really connecting for her—the emphasis that she puts on certain words or moments must really come through. 

Rosie: Yes, for sure. So was this your second reread, or have you read it multiple times?

Neada: I think this was my fourth time reading it actually. And it is a book that I first read when I moved to New York and was in my very early 20s. I was pretty aimless off the back of studying Arts, majoring in literature and art history and moved to New York thinking maybe I would spend some time there for a year and then move back to Sydney to do masters in curatorship, or something very art specific. I didn't have a clear reason for being in New York except that I really wanted to be where art had happened. And, in a way, this was just such an incredible lens through which to experience such a formative time in the history of modern art in this incredible city. To, you know, walk the streets and, having finished a chapter, to really connect with these moments that Patti and Robert were living.

And I think just the highs and the lows that they experience were just so visceral for me, because I was experiencing them through that time as well. New York has been such a formative place for me. Being born and raised in Sydney, New York is the only other place that has ever really felt like home and it's a special place with its own unique energy. I think that creative history really shines through and people are so connected through much more conceptual, philosophical ideas.

So I think that was my fourth or fifth time reading Just Kids. And it's a book that I have gifted many people. It's one of those go-tos, because I think it's something you can really pick up at any point in life and it almost lays everything bare in your own life and, you know, forces you to strip back to what you know and question what really matters and what it is all for. There are just so many ideas that come through in such a subtle way. And Patti’s recounting of their friendship, relationship, and their journey is so beautiful. I always take away something new. It’s impossible not to. 

Rosie: I feel like I've had such a similar experience with this book. The first time I read it, I was living in Sydney, but it was right before I moved to New York. And then I read it again when we were living in New York. And strangely, we were living in Bushwick, Brooklyn and frequenting a lot of the subway stops that Patti writes about. Which was quite bizarre, but there's something special about reading it when you're actually in that space. It really shines a new light on New York, which was very much my experience as well. Because I've visited the city a number of times and I've always loved it, but then living there, it's just coloured in a different light. And I feel like that book captures it so beautifully. Through, you know, their moment in time, the development of their relationship, and also them finding themselves as artists. Tere's this beautiful moment early on when a couple sees them on the street. And I think the woman says to her husband, ‘Take their photo, I think they're artists’ and he responds, ‘No, they're just kids’. And I had actually forgotten that bit. I hadn't remembered that was where the title came from. But I thought it was such a beautiful moment.

Obviously when Patti Smith wrote the book, she was very established in her work and as an artist, but you still get this sense that, even as an artist in her 60s, she probably still felt like just a kid. Which is quite beautiful. 

Neada: Completely! And you really get a sense for just how raw those memories are for her too. And how pivotal those early years in New York were for her and for Robert in the way that they saw the world and the way that they connected with one another, because that imagery is just so strong. It's really hard to close the book and put it down you in many of those moments, it's just incredible the way she is able to bring that to the page. 

Rosie: Yeah, it’s super beautiful. I wonder if she kept journals or anything like that when she was younger. Because so much of it feels like she's living it right in that moment. And it might be, just as you say, that they were so integral to her life that they still feel as if they were yesterday.

Neada: Also, I think, this way that she sees herself in contrast and relationship to Robert is really interesting. Reading it this time, I really felt that sense that she measured herself against him. And he measured himself against her. And she talks so much about the capacity of her art versus his natural creative flow. But also about the way that he engages with people at the Chelsea Hotel, and how much she just didn't really care about that world, but was there in this time and this place for him. I guess that is life in a way—it's so much about the relationships that we form and how we stand in contrast to someone else in the room or in our lives. And I think she brings that up so beautifully. 

Rosie: Yeah, she really does. And I feel like they helped give each other a sense of self confidence and really showed up for one another, aiding each other's formation of self and art, in many ways. And that seems to have endured right throughout Robert’s life. And still to this day, you know, he seems so integral to who she is as a person, as a songwriter, and as an artist. The relationship they share is just so moving.

Neada: It's really special. And I think, we all have that friendship in our lives, or some relationship in our lives, that has been there at a time and a place when we needed it to push us beyond where we thought we could go. I think it was such a rich read that I had this time, as someone who is now in their mid 30s and looking back on that moment, when you're feeling so free, and the problems are very real, but the responsibilities aren't what they are today. And to look back and really feel appreciation for those people who, you know, were either the Robert in that moment, or were just one of those people who walked into the Chelsea Hotel and happened to be there to make a comment that pushed you in a certain direction. I think you can relate to this life if you’re that there is someone who has spent time in New York or has found yourself in any place where you were going through a huge change during those formative adult years. There is a sense of that need for bravery and courage, to really deal with the concerns of adulthood and the walls that start to close in as you enter adulthood, and you leave home and must define what your life will be and who you will be in the world. So, you really do get something different from it each time. And I think there's something really special about walking away from this book and coming back to it five or 10 years later with a completely different perspective. You're a mum now and that's such a different chapter in your life. I can only imagine what it's like to read it as a mother, but I'm sure that there would be both excitement and fear laced into thinking about, you know, Robert and Patti’s families and the untold story of who they were and what they felt along this journey. 

Rosie: Yeah, absolutely. And I haven't read Just Kids in about 10 years either, so it's my third reread, but I haven't read it in quite a long time. And it certainly hits differently this time around. It is a book that I've gifted and recommended to lots of people as well. I feel like I always return to Patti’s work, but especially since becoming a mum, it's often to her poetry or short form writing. So it was even more special to reread this book and I was just amazed by her courage throughout. I had forgotten that she had that really early pregnancy, when she was taken in by that family. And I just found it so interesting watching her transform. I love the way that she talks about herself as this kind of leader of all the kids as a child. And then she arrives in New York and it's really what you're describing—that feeling of being on the precipice of adulthood and needing to define who you are, but also wanting to cry and run back to your parents in some ways, then finding the courage somehow to press forward. When Patti found Robert, it feels like there was almost something divine about it. The way he just shows up in her life. And was there to become her family in a way as well. They are that for each other and they seem to give one another a sense of safety and self-confidence.

I was also really struck by how their art is just so woven into their every day. Like their obsession with talismans. And the poetic references they have around ‘our blue star’ and things like that, which I found so special hearing her speak in her voice, because you can hear how loaded with emotion those different motifs are. And then you think about some of the most famous images that they created together, like the cover of Horses and it's almost like the image itself is iconic, of course, but it's actually the creation of that image—these everyday moments of using things that they'd found at thrift stores to put the outfits together and the little accessory details—that really makes the magic.

Neada: And even their home. The way that they design their home and use it almost as a gallery and a way to completely immerse themselves in that art. I think is really incredible and also shows the importance of that space they share together—I guess it’s this idea of a family home, to add on to what you just highlighted. But when Robert ends up taking it to a very dark place and Patti has a very emotional reaction to that. I think that is so telling of how important this completely immersive world that they're creating is to each of them. And there are these earlier struggles that they have, where there is a bit of a push from one side. You know, Robert wanting to push the boundaries in a way that Patti maybe doesn't see as within her creative realm. And the way that they try to hold on to each other. Yet, they're both trying to grow and define themselves as individuals too— it’s just such an incredible experience to witness through this book.

Rosie: Yeah, and I guess it’s the point of realisation that they need to let go to some extent in order to grow in separate ways. I just remember feeling so heartbroken the first time I read that and just weeping, but then it's so beautiful the way they come back together and really continue to hold space for one another. It’s very special. 

I also love this idea of their little rituals. Especially upon moving to New York, when they don't really have anywhere to sleep and they need to kind of create these lives for themselves, but they sort of do that in these little daily rituals and things that they share that are so special. It reminded me of LESSE and your whole philosophy of the brand. Ritual, Not Routine. 

Neada: Oh, thank you. Yeah, like when they put on the vinyls and how that is so central for them getting into the creative flow and how it really helps to define that space. And, you know, going to Coney Island and these small celebrations they have that are just so youthful. In a way, you know, they're making these simple, everyday experiences poetic and I really think that is such a beautiful thing that comes up again and again. How they continue to create this in any space that they're in. You know, within the confines of a smaller hotel room at the Chelsea, they have certain spaces that they each own and certain rituals and ways of doing things that they carve out, because that allows them to really connect with themselves. And I think that's such an important lesson that you do get from this book, which is that you have to find those small rituals that define you. And that claim your own small sanctuary in the every day.  

Rosie: Especially as life just gets more and more overwhelming and there's such an information overload. You know, things just move at such a fast pace now and ‘sanctuary’ is the perfect word. It's like, by creating these rituals, you kind of help to create that sense of self sanctuary. Are there any rituals for you that kind of help hold that space?

Neada: One thing that we do at home very often is to put vinyls on the record player and just sit and listen while we watch the sun set. It's a way to come together without any noise. And sometimes my partner Drew and I go back and forth, picking different songs or albums to play, which I think is just such a fun way to come back and connect with one another. And also to learn a little bit about each other—to get a sense for the songs that come to mind off the cuff and continue to be staples within our rotation. 

And then something that's really important to me is just going for a walk and, you know, really taking the time. It is such a simple act of actually just setting time to take yourself for a walk and get lost in your thoughts and be in nature and take a break from the screen. It all sounds very simple, but I think sometimes it's harder to create that time and space than one might think. 

Obviously, skincare is so important too. For me, it's just such a loving act that we can just take five or 10 minutes in the morning, to be with ourselves and do something as simple as washing our face and having some thought behind the way that we're treating ourselves and the products that we're using. I’m just really such a big fan of actually carving out time to do a face mask and I think it is just that simple act and ritual that really helps you reconnect with yourself. I think that is just as important as you the act of cleansing your skin, this act of taking a moment for yourself—there's so much value in that. 

Rosie: Yeah, that's so true. It's like connection with self. I feel like I've never appreciated that time more than I have since becoming a mum, because you have so little time for yourself. You know, I’m always packing things for my son or tending to him throughout the day. If he's napping, I usually fill that time with work. So there's not a whole lot of downtime just for yourself. Those moments in the morning and in the evening become like the bookends of the day. And even though they are brief, it is a special time to just be with yourself. To breathe and take care of yourself, I suppose. 

Neada: Yeah. I can only imagine how important those moments are to you now. 

Rosie: We love putting a record on as well. And beach walks have been so important for us because we're very close to the beach. But we have actually just decided that we're going to move back to the country next year, to the Southern Highlands. It’s something we've kind of had it in the back of our minds for quite some time. We absolutely love living in Cronulla, but we're starting to feel like we need a little bit more space. 

So I found it really emotional rereading this book at this time, because it feels like we’re on the precipice of great change too. And, while it all feels so aligned, it’s also scary, because you have these daily rituals and things that ground us as a family and as individuals. And it's scary to think about the prospect of recreating those in a different space. But something I worked out from living in New York is that nature is so important to me. I absolutely loved living there, but when we went on a trip out to Joshua Tree, I just remember finding the wide-open spaces so calming. And time moved so slowly—I don't think I've ever spent a week anywhere where time that moved that slowly. And it was just beautiful, so I started to realise that nature is a grounding force for me. But yeah, I found this quite an emotional reread, because it brought up a lot of those feelings of being untethered and having to find our way again. But that's what life is all about, I guess.

Neada: Well, I think the best lesson you can take from it is that you can carry those little rituals with you and implement them anywhere that you are. To recreate and redefine a space for yourself. The one thing that I get from reading this book is that I want to move back to New York so badly. I think what it tells me is just that the magic of this city exists in every time—from the 60s when Patti and Robert were there, to the time that we were living there. You know, I have been back this year and there really is a certain magic. It feels like that magic was truly reserved for the people who were on their way, in a sense, though. It feels like a place that’s owned by the people who are really starting to learn who they are—they are living off that vibration in a way that is so specific to that time in your life and maybe it’s so hard to tap into. So, there is such an appeal in this book and it's a feeling that you're so connected to art and culture and history when you’re in that place. But it also makes me question: is that magic purely reserved for that time in your life? 

Rosie: Yes, it’s so interesting. ‘Vibration’ is such a good word for it, I feel like it really captures that energy. But yeah, it is such a special place. I miss it. I haven't been back in quite some time, because a lot of our friends have moved away from there now, out to California or Colorado, even Mexico City. But I do really want to go back.

Neada: I mean, yeah, it makes sense. Like after that moment in time, your life might take a different direction. And I think, in a sense, this book is so much about New York, just as much as it is about Patti and Robert—it feels like it's the third protagonist in the story. And it's such a challenging place too, I think, in a way that pushes you to your limit. But at a certain point, when you have really made peace with yourself, and who you have decided to be, it allows you to just move on and experience something else, or at least that's the way that I look at it. 

Rosie: Yeah, for sure. I feel like it was very formative for me as well. But it's also so fast that I think it helped me to realise that I need a little more stillness and time spent in nature to fuel me creatively. Those are the times when I feel that creativity flows out of me more naturally. So, while New York was so inspiring, there's also so much to take in that you become busy consuming it. It's like you were saying that it kind of opens you up to this amazing history of art and culture, as well as to the future of those things as well, because there are so many wonderful creatives and musicians living there that you can tap into it all. It's very expansive and incredible, but also doesn’t leave a lot of room for stillness. 

Neada: You're completely right and I feel like that's also Patti and Robert’s work and creative process makes so much sense there, because it is so much about picking through these little vintage stores and finding treasures and then creating work that reacted to that. You know, that was really how they started to creatively evolve in the beginning and to find their footing. And so much of their work is in response to or reaction to other artists at that time. You know, even from Robert’s obsession with Andy Warhol. It’s strange to think that, in a sense, his work is even more important than Warhol's work to New York and to the art world. But it is still a reaction to it. Being there is such a big part of that process, considering what is happening in that city at that time.

Rosie: Yeah, the book really captures that moment in time too. I've loved rediscovering it and I want to revisit it again in five years. I almost wish that I’d kept notes of how it made me feel with each read, because it's just very special to experience it at different stages of your life.

Neada: It gives you what you need [each time] and that's really what a good story does, I think—it gives you what you need in that time and place. And sometimes it’s actually nice to let that go, to kind of grow from whatever lessons you receive from it and just move on and allow yourself to evolve. But yes, it is nice to reflect back. Last time I read it was actually right after I went and saw a retrospective of Mapplethorpe's work at the Guggenheim. And I really, really loved that work. It was a very emotional experience. It wasn't even the leading exhibition at the Guggenheim and I remember feeling complete contempt that it wasn't because it felt so powerful and the images were such a turning point. Especially in their representation of the LGBTQI community and their visibility, as well exploring fluidity in terms of gender through these very poetic images. And this time, it was really interesting to be reading the book and to consistently have Patti talking about how she would encourage Robert to take photos. How he just didn't have the personality for being in the darkroom and for dealing with the process of taking the image—he wanted something quickly and he wanted it to be very tactile and instantaneous. Yet his photos are just so prolific and really capture who he is. So yeah, it was really interesting to be reading it again now and to have this very vivid memory of how powerful his images are in person, but then to witness the push back and forth within the story.

Rosie: That's so beautiful. I had a similarly emotive experience when viewing an exhibition of Mapplethorpe’s photographs that the Art Gallery of New South Wales hosted in collaboration with the Getty Museum. And then when we lived in New York, we saw Patti Smith play live and it really magnified her creative spirit for me. Like seeing Just Kids really come to life. I just love the idea that Patti and Robert kind of fuelled each other and encouraged one another to really push the boundaries of their own creative expression.

Neada: Completely! And I also love what they represent within this moment, which is that they are just at this shift, not only in their own lives, but from the conservative generation of their parents, which was so steeped in tradition. And then they were pushed against this force of artistic revolution in New York. They contained both worlds, in a sense, and everything that they were building was with an understanding of things that had come before them—so they were able to really let go and create something new. Yeah, I just think that what they represent at that time, that place and who they really were within this whole context was just such an interesting moment.

Rosie: Yes, and also taking aspects of who they were, echoes of their childhood and familial experiences. I think Joan Didion talks about that in her ‘Some Women’ essay. She includes a quote from Robert about how the way he arranges things is very ‘Catholic’. And he obviously came from this very Catholic family, so the book deals with him feeling torn as he is breaking away from that. But he also carries forth some elements of it, even if only in the way he arranges things or in the composition of his photographs. I find that really interesting, because you see in Just Kids that Patti and Robert are really at that moment in life when they're coming into adulthood. So you see them shedding certain old versions of themselves, but in a sense those versions still inform who they will ultimately become. 

Neada: Completely! And how Patti’s mother was always gifting her books too, so there is a tribute to their families in a way. To your point, in Just Kids, there is constant reference to Robert's use of symbolism and the way that he was drawn to ornate talismans. And it is really interesting because I think that, in a way, it is all of our experiences—we are a part of our history, our past, our families. But we are constantly pushing to define who we are as individuals and pave our own way. 

And that is the creative experience as well, you know—understanding literature and what has come before, but also having a desire to create something that doesn't yet exist within the Canon. I guess that is what a new generation does, they are constantly building. That's what this book is really about I suppose; it's Patti and Robert building their lives—they really started with nothing and built this very, very rich life that has a framework of art. But it could be any life in a way, and they build it from zero and, in the end, create this very pivotal, inspiring bond that we continue to emote over. 

There are all these connecting themes. And I think that is also the richness of this book, which you can come back to each time. Obviously, we are both huge fans of Didion as well and I think that's also very true of her—she was constantly trying to break away from the history of her family and carve a new path. And she was part of this seminal moment in California, when San Francisco was ablaze with drugs. But then she moved to LA and was touched by this world in Hollywood and music history. So she continued to build this very special life and was also a part of these two forces coming together; she was navigating her own way through it. So yeah, I really loved the connection of all of this in your creative brief.

Rosie: It has been one of my favourite chapters so far, because all of these creatives are very inspiring to me as well. And I love the parallel that you just touched on in Didion's work, compared to Robert and Patti’s work—that kind of reaction to what's happening in the culture and I find Joan’s work is very much like that as well. She was observing all these pivotal moments in history and giving us a very poetic, unique take on it that is both removed but also a part of it at the same time—which is not so dissimilar to Robert and Patti in the way that they create.

Neada: Completely!

Rosie: Were you saying earlier that you reread Just Kids on the way to Paris this time?

Neada: Yeah, I read it on the way over and on the way back.

Rosie: Because I was thinking about that as well, with Patti’s pilgrimage to Paris in the book with her sister.

Neada: Yes! I was actually reading that part of the book on my way over. And I just remember this visceral feeling of that moment when you're going somewhere that you've always dreamed of visiting. How it really fills you up. But then she comes back, and Robert is really sick. Obviously, I'm an expat, so my whole family is in Australia, but I live here in the US. And that was also a very emotional part of the book for me, because that's often how I feel—I wish I could be in two places at once. 

But I loved reading it while I was in Paris, just because you are surrounded by art and culture, by people who are constantly creating and are brave enough to put themselves and their work out there, to try and further what art can be. And that's obviously something that comes up again and again in this book, on every page. And being in Paris, thinking about going to the museum and about the artists and journeys that they have had, especially at that point in their life when they were trying to forge what their artistic identity was. It was a really inspiring read to have during that trip. I think a book like this really makes you think so deeply about art. You know, most exhibitions you visit do give you context about the artist’s life, but I think that Just Kids paints such a rich portrait of the world around their art. It really prompts you to think about the world surrounding different creatives and what it is that informs them and plays into your reaction to a piece of work or writing or music. 

Rosie: Absolutely! Was that one of your main takeaways from the book? 

Neada: Yes, that. And what also came up for me this time was just the small moments that define us. How important those small encounters were that both Mapplethorpe and Smith had throughout their early years in New York and what that led to later in life—how those moments really became building blocks in the direction of their lives. I really loved that, and I think Smith is so good at pulling out these small anecdotal memories and placing them in a way that makes you understand how important they were, to her being and who she is. 

I think the other thing that really stood out to me this time was just the conviction that they both have, the bravery, courage, and willingness to devote themselves to this life that they are committed to creating. The fact that Smith is sleeping on the streets in the beginning before she even meets Mapplethorpe and then their joint commitment to ensuring that he can have the freedom to just work. That he can quit his tedious job and really have space to be an artist. Having that level of conviction in what you do and the life that you want to create is such an important story.

The level of bravery that they both showed really stood out to me. It made me reflect on my own experience of moving to New York when I had never even visited America, didn't have a job, and had no real plan. I had a small amount of savings, so it was nothing like what they went through, but it was a very instinctive action that I was taking. So that highlighted for me this message of getting in touch with what feels intuitive and right. Patti really captures how divine certain moments feel and I think it's because they’re both so raw in their experience of the world that they're just constantly connecting with what feels intuitive to them, letting go of any of the societal pressure that they have been raised with and all these specific ideas around the way that their life should look and flow. I think that's a really wonderful lesson. And something that was more acute for me in this read than in any previous reads.

Rosie: This time reading the book, I found real beauty in the fact that they're quite untethered when they both arrive in New York and then they sort of cultivate this devotion to one another that eventually blossoms into a devotion to their creative selves and a freedom in who they are. It's like they give each other the courage to be held but also to explore the world of art in a really freeing way. I think they lent so much to one another.

Neada: Yes, and I think the other takeaway that stood out to me is also that need for creative individuality. This is something that I've been thinking about a lot recently, just with how pervasive social media is and how common it is that we are seeing the same images again and again. How important it is to know the evolution of art and creativity, that there is individuality and freedom of expression. And that people can find a way, like Smith and Mapplethorpe did, to really quiet the noise and find a path for themselves and their own inspiration. 

Rosie: Yeah, I would love to know Smith and Mapplethorpe’s take on a world like this, and how that might have influenced their own creative process back then, or if it would have influenced their creative process. I think it's a very interesting time to be a creative. I agree with you that there's definitely ways to quiet out the noise and I think it comes down to that courage as well—like having the courage to step away and not define yourself by those modern notions of success. 

Neada: My hope is that there’s a point where we will swing back to valuing individuality in a new way. And I do think that we're seeing so many small subcultures flourish now, even when it comes to fashion. So I think just trying to find ways to be individuals in a society where there is constant repetition of visuals and ideas—all of these echo chambers that we’re existing in, whether that be what is cool in fashion or what is popular in art. In a way, I think the Chelsea Hotel was like social media, a place where you were invited to the table. There were certain moments that paralleled what we experience now through social media, but obviously we're experiencing it constantly. So I think that now there is a desire to pull away and I think that's great for the creative world.

Rosie: Definitely! I think the echo chambers have, in a way, always existed. And there were similar themes being explored throughout particular art movements or by the Romantic poets, for example. But there was also more space to create as an individual and really carve out a unique voice and artistic fingerprint. I think the main issue with social media and connectivity in general is that we're so bombarded by a lot of the same information all the time. And it can be difficult to remove yourself from that. But I think you're right that the pendulum is swinging back, and people will find their own way. Which is why it's so nice to do something like this book club. It’s special to actually sit with something, a beautiful piece of work like Just Kids or to flip through a magazine or have those skincare moments at the end of the day. To just sit with oneself, instead of always being so connected— having time to reflect, instead of constantly being in motion.

But, then again, technology is wonderful because it has allowed us to have this conversation today [laughs]. So thank you!

Neada: Thank you for including me and for inspiring me to read Just Kids again—I really love Patti’s voice, it is just so generous and so loving. Her and Robert shared a really special relationship and an incredible story. So it was such a treat to be able to chat with you about it—especially because we have so many parallels in terms of both being from Australia and living in New York around the time we discovered this book.

Rosie: I’ve loved our conversation as well! Thank you Neada and I hope you have a beautiful day. 

fin.

Photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe