Ginsberg, Galway, 1995

Allen Ginsberg in Galway (behind Kenny's Bookshop) in 1995. This was the only time I've heard Ginsberg reading. As far as I recall, he didn't read many (if any) of his well-known poems, such as Howl (though I could be wrong). All in all, a low-toned performance, or that's how I remember it. I had a vision of how I wanted to take his portrait: standing in his hotel room with a packed suitcase at his feet, but of course that's not how it happened. I had noticed him at a gettogether after the reading (a dance or opening where there was music) and he was, if I remember right, dancing, all the time holding his little Leica and snapping photos with it. So I guessed he'd be happy to pose for this kind of portrait. He understood perfectly.

Taken, I think, with my Nikon F3.