John Varvatos, Reality TV Star: “I’m Not Embarrassed”

Downtown returned to its original glory for a few hours last night at the CATM gallery in Chelsea for the first ever showing of photographer Mick Rock’s The Legend Series, consisting of artwork based on his iconic photographs. The eve brought out Lou Reed, Bob Gruen, David Zelikovsky, John Dabu, Scott Lipps, Chelsea Leyland, Lisa Raden, Liz Vap, and John Varvatos, whom we grabbed for a quick chat.

For my sins in a former life, I’ve been forced to spend an inordinate amount of time with musicians in this life. Of course, I love them.

A camera is a wonderful ally. It requires minimal maintenance and provides entry to a world of endless imagery.

My ambition was not to be a great photographer (though that certainly would have been a worthy stance). It was a lust to embrace anything that startled or energized me.

I am not in the business of documenting or revealing personalities. I am in the business of freezing shadows and bottling auras.

Without the rock ‘n rollers, I would not have developed as an image man.

You want to shock people with a bit of mystery and beauty. That’s my favorite kind of shocking.

I’ve never felt like a voyeur, although I’ve certainly done plenty of looking!

There’s an art to looking back - how to celebrate the past without being entrapped by it. Photographs provide the great physical link.

My allegiance was always to the act. I wanted them to be happy. I wasn’t owned by a magazine or a record label.

I smell pictures more than I see them and I hear pictures more than I can smell them. It’s very habit forming.