New York

Ming Lee Simmons Through Sue Kwon's Lens

Published on October 29, 2024 3 minutes read

Words by Carmen Hall, Imagery by Sue Kwon

"On any given day, Jean Michel Basquiat would be across the street on the front steps of a health food store called “Whole Foods” (not at all associated with the corporate Whole Foods of today) hanging with Keith Haring, Graf artist Dondi would roll up on his bike, Harvey Keitel and Lorraine Bracco would shop at Agnès B all the time."

After starting her career at The Village Voice, Sue Kwon became known for her photographs documenting New York culture in real time. Set in nightclubs in Jamaica, Queens, or a fashion runway, her portraits of hip hop stars, skaters and anonymous subjects create a feeling of ‘a fly on the wall’.

Irrevocably a part of the Downtown New York scene’s permanent fabric, Kwon visited the model Ming Lee Simmons at her Downtown apartment. On the occasion, she spoke to La Catena about the energy unique to the city she’s intimately captured since the late 80s.

"Uptown is for people who have already done something. Downtown is where they’re doing something now. I live Uptown but I love Downtown."

Carmen Hall: Would you say Andy Warhol's quote above still rings true?

Sue Kwon: I think because historically downtown was a more affordable location, it was where the newly independent and younger generation or transplants could afford to live and thereby the environment was more vibrant, experimental, wild, open to all the beautiful chaos that young minds dream up. The city has drastically changed, as we all know. But I still see a lot of fresh energetic faces in the streets, opening boutiques, or small art galleries. Hopefully downtown will never lose people that are trying to create something new.

Sue and Kool G Rap sit together on a couch.

Photo copyright Sue Kwon, from her book, Rap is Risen: New York Photographs 1988-2008 (Testify Books, 2021)

Carmen: Is there a memory or a photograph of yours that best illustrates downtown?

Sue: For me, a memory that is very downtown is 116 Prince St, specifically when I worked at the Agnès B boutique in the late 80’s. On any given day, Jean Michel Basquiat would be across the street on the front steps of a health food store called “Whole Foods” (not at all associated with the corporate Whole Foods of today) hanging with Keith Haring, Graf artist Dondi would roll up on his bike, Harvey Keitel and Lorraine Bracco would shop at Agnès B all the time. We also loved when Mick Jones (The Clash/Big Audio Dynamite) would come in with his then wife, Daisy. Downtown was a place where “celebrities” shopped but it was without any fanfare or pretence, there were no black cars, paparazzi, or frenzy. We were allowed to play any music we wanted, customers were left to wait to get rung up because a record had ended, or it was skipping, and we had to turn around to change it. There was no infinite Spotify list.