Beautiful People - American People - Documentary photography.

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The art of photography is capable of leaving traces of emotions, faces, experiences, but also of history, culture, work, beliefs, ways of life and lifestyles. Documentary photography takes us back to a moment in history and through it we can get an idea of what life was like, in this case social life, at that precise moment in time.

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The exhibition of photographic art, American People, was divided into two rooms, where it was obvious that different themes were dealt with in each one, and when I arrived at the second room I could see this.

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The collection belongs to José Luis Soler Vila, but the author, the photographer of what we are going to see, is Tod Papageorge, who was able, during the few years that the discotheque Studio 54 in New York was open, to go to that famous place and take all these photographs.

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Life was divided, among the famous people, both from the cinema, theatre, celebrities and much more, into the everyday life and the parties during the night. That is to say, it is as if there were two types of life, the real and the wild, according to the same writing that was on one of the walls of the exhibition.

This discotheque was not open to just anyone, but to select people, what were called ‘the beautiful people’, and the atmosphere inside was one of great freedom, bordering on wild debauchery, and this photographer was able to capture all of this.

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Although these photographs belong to the short period between 1978 and 1980, something very similar was happening in Paris in the 1930s, and this photographer was inspired by it and by the work of other French photographers.

The people who came to the place were extravagant people, celebrities, some were well known and others were not, but the reality was that only certain selected people could enter this privileged place.

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The photographs show a complete freedom of all the actions that took place there, where everything was allowed in any of the areas of pleasure.

As I mentioned, only certain people could attend the place and with previous invitation, only the beautiful people. Some lived in the city and others didn't, and in the case of those who were not famous or known, what they really wanted was to be known, to go out and stand out.

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According to the explanation that was given there, there were personalities from the arts, cinema, fashion and also many politicians. Of course, there were also many people who like to party, that kind of party where free fun and a lot of debauchery are the norm. Everything was allowed.

In the place there was alcohol of all kinds and other things as well, the decoration was very important, as you can see in the pictures. It had a dance floor, exclusive areas, terrace, bar and much more, it was a night of euphoria.

Through this photographer who was allowed to enter, we can get to know this kind of parties that were a bit hidden at that time. It would probably not be a scandal today, but at the time it could have been, which is why it was for such an exclusive audience.

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On the other hand, I think the black and white style of the photography is excellent and the professionalism with which they were taken even more so. As a poster in the exhibition said, they are photos that speak for themselves, you only have to look at them in great detail.

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In this way, thanks to documentary photography, we have a record of part of the hidden history of the 1970s in that part of the world, but which surely, as happened in France, was happening in many parts of the world, but was kept silent.

Thank you very much for joining me today, I wish you a very good Sunday, see you soon.
Amonet.

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All photographs are my own.