A Flea Market Find: Photos of “West Side Story,” “Something Wild,” and Harlem
1961, New York City. Near the set of the Carroll Baker movie Something Wild. Photographer unknown.
Twenty or so years ago, while haunting the beloved Chelsea Flea Market off of 6th Avenue, I came across a table strewn with contact sheets and negatives. There was some really great stuff and I inquired about buying the lot. The seller was asking $300 — a steal really, though more than I could afford that day. But an hour later, after cherry-picking all the people shots, I walked away with 100 negatives and their accompanying contact sheets for $100. I was thrilled with the find, but also immediately regretted not finding a way to muster up the additional $200 for the whole collection. I returned numerous times to the flea market to purchase the rest but the seller was at first not able to find them and then disappeared altogether, not even returning my calls. Ultimately I had to let go of the miss.
There’s no indication on the negatives who the photographer is but from the beginning I felt like I had wronged both the photos and the artist by splitting the lot. I’ve tried many times to figure out who the artist is and have reached out to a gallery representing one possible person — Phil Stern — but so far to no avail. I know two things about the photographer: he or she had enough access to the film industry that they may well have been a set photographer. And they were really good. The photos are gorgeous.
The images I passed over at the flea market — abstract shots of brick rubble from buildings being torn down in New York City — were fantastic. But the photos that really got my attention were from the sets of two classic 1961 movies: West Side Story and Something Wild. The West Side Story shots document a moment in New York City when numerous blocks on the Upper West Side were torn down to make room for the new Lincoln Center arts complex. The producers of West Side Story took advantage of the rubble and open spaces to shoot some of the movie’s iconic scenes. In several photos you can see George Chakiris as Bernardo — the leader of the Sharks, the older brother of Maria, and Anita's boyfriend. In others you can see the Jets —perhaps rehearsing their Officer Krupke scene outside a small bodega. In the Something Wild shots you can see residents of a New York City neighborhood looking on while the film is being shot. In other photos you see beautifully photographed black, white, and latino kids playing on their stoops, in city rubble, and in neighborhoods that are perhaps Harlem or the Upper West Side. Two rolls are without people, and show dilapidated piers on the Hudson and the newly constructed United Nations tower on the East River.
If you know anyone in the photo business with a deep knowledge of New York City photography from the 1960s, or any organizations or galleries that might be interested in looking at the images, please let me know. These are strong, historic photos and deserve to be seen.
1961, New York City. On the set of West Side Story. Photographer unknown.
1961, New York City. On the set of West Side Story. Photographer unknown.
1961, New York City. On the set of West Side Story. Photographer unknown.
1961, New York City. On the set of the Carroll Baker movie Something Wild. Photographer unknown.
1961, New York City. Girl. Photographer unknown.
1961, New York City. Boys. Photographer unknown.