For four decades, Charles Gatewood has trained his camera on underground scenes, from the Beats and the dark alleys of 1970s Mardi Gras to modern primitives and extreme sexual fetishists. He is a photographic anthropologist at the fringes of Western culture. I feel privileged to have Charles’s marvelous portrait of William Burroughs and Brion Gysin gazing into their dreamachine hanging above my desk. Charles Gatewood’s photos of celebrities — Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Allen Ginsberg, Al Green, Abbie Hoffman, and others — will be on display at San Francisco’s Robert Tat Gallery from September 3 to October 31. The exhibition is in conjunction with the release of Charles’s new limited edition artist’s book on Bob Dylan, titled “A Complete Unknown.” You can preview the full exhibition online. Top, “William Burroughs and Scientology E-Meter” (1972). Above left, “Bob Dylan, Stockholm (with cigarette)” (1966). Above right, “Abbie Hoffman, NYC” (1969).
