Laurence Miller has more than 50 years experience in the fine art photo market, and is one of the field’s leading authorities, he is also a photographer. We asked him for his photographs of Chelsea in the Seventies. Here they are with his text written on the occasion of one of his images published in the New York Times. Happy belated birthday Larry !
How Chelsea Became the Unlikely Center of the Art World
In the summer of 1974, I arrived in New York City to start my new job at LIGHT Gallery on Madison Avenue. On Sundays, I would venture down to the old elevated West Side Highway, then closed to all traffic except pedestrians and bicyclists. The highway gave me a safe and unique perspective of the western edge of Manhattan Island, and I walked and photographed frequently from the mid-40’s down to the emerging World Trade Center. My goal was to capture this mostly desolate area in the belief that eventually, like everything else, it would one day all be gone.
When the New York Times contacted me to recommend photographers who worked specifically in the west Chelsea area before the galleries moved in, the only person I could think of was myself. So I am delighted to have one of my pictures published in the enlightening story.
Laurence G. Miller
