Patti smith robert mapplethorpe

A new limited-edition book by photographer Lloyd Ziff documents the first ever shoot Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe did together, back when they were young lovers and aspiring artists navigating the heady days of Sixties New York.

A new limited-edition book by photographer Lloyd Ziff documents the first ever shoot Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe did together, back when they were young lovers and aspiring artists navigating the heady days of Sixties New York.

They were New York before New York knew what to do with them. They were lovers, best friends, fellow survivors. Patti Smith & Robert Mapplethorpe both became art-world legends and ’70s icons of radical downtown bohemia. Now Smith finally opens up about their days together, living at the Chelsea Hotel, buying art supplies before food, mixing with Warhol superstars and future rock gods, and doing whatever they had to do just to stay together.

"Contact sheet from shoot with Patti Smith and Robert Robert Mapplethorpe", by Norman Seeff, 1969

Back in college, Smith became a muse for Frank Stefanko after she caught his eye in a co-op in South Jersey by "mosey[ing] in like the bad guy walking into a saloon in an old Western movie," as he recalls.

Explore Milton Sonn's 22008 photos on Flickr!

Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe by Kate Simon, 1979 http://bit.ly/1mCg5YK

“Nothing was spoken, it was just mutually understood” Patti Smith ~ Just Kids Photography © Lloyd Ziff Patti & Robert Mapplethorpe 1969

Unpublished photography by Lloyd Ziff offers an intimate look at the early days of the cultural icons' fabled relationship.