Patti Smith, San Francisco, November 1975
Photography and commentary by Michael Zagaris

“You know, I think this was in 1975, and Patti and her band were really starting to happen—you know, in underground circles. And they were playing the now-defunct Boarding House, which was a great little venue in San Francisco. I remember contacting her publicist and then talking to her that night backstage, where she was with her band, and we’d taken a few pictures, and I said, ‘You know, Patti, we need to get some kind of a portrait, you know, because Bill Como at After Dark is looking for a portrait.’ And she said, ‘Portrait? I’ll give you a portrait: how’s this?’ And she stands like she’s taking a piss in the bathroom. That’s a black-and-white shot. And Kristen Sundbom, who I was living with at the time, she did all the tinting; and that was her idea to tint the wall red… ’cause the wall wasn’t really that color. But she really pops out of it.”

See more photography by Michael Zagaris