There’s nothing we love more than virtual voyeuristic visits with fellow fabulous New Yorkers. The original real-life interiors photographer Dominique Nabokov (long before The Selby and Backyard Bill started snapping pics of stylish spaces) started documenting the inside lives of others as understood by their living rooms some 20 years ago. Her visits with celebrated artists, writers, designers, intellectuals, and the occasional celebrity was compiled into a humble, but fascinating, survey titled New York Living Rooms.
As she explains in the preface to the late ’90s anti-design tome, it’s “not exactly about interior decoration. Although it represents a special and stylistic approach, it is above all a document. No rearranging, no adding of bouquets, no use of flood lights. I approach the living rooms like the people I photograph: a portrait as close to reality as possible.” From Reverend Al Sharpton’s purple, plant-filled home base in Brooklyn to Susan Sontag’s minimal chic space in Chelsea, click through to drop in on some of the most celebrated New Yorkers of our time.
Rev. Al Sharpton’s Living Room
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov
Susan Sontag’s Living Room – Chelsea, New York City
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov
Nan Goldin’s Living Room – Greenwich Village, New York City
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov
Philip Glass’ Living Room – East Village, New York City
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov
Louise Bourgeois’ Living Room – Chelsea, New York City
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov
Robert Wilson’s Living Room – West Side Highway, New York City
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov
Fernando Sanchez’s Living Room – Upper East Side, New York City
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov
Tom Sachs’ Living Room – Little Italy, New York City
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov
David Seider’s Living Room – Soho, New York City
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov
Taylor Mead’s Living Room – Soho, New York City
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov
Quentin Crisp’s Living Room – East Village, New York City
Photo credit:
Francesco Clemente’s Living Room – Greenwich Village, New York City
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov
Diane von Fürstenberg’s Living Room – Upper East Side, New York City
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov
Julian Schnabel’s Living Room – West Village, New York City
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov
Elle McPherson’s Living Room – Upper East Side, New York City
Photo credit: Dominique Nabokov