Steven Sebring knew almost nothing about Patti Smith before he set off for Detroit to photograph her at home for Spin magazine in 1995. Yet his encounter with her led to his first film project, in which the fashion photographer spent eleven years following Smith around the world. The ethereal and elusive product of those years, “Patti Smith: Dream of Life,” was broadcast on PBS’s POV December 30th. The film has led, in turn, to the art exhibition, Objects of Life, which opens at the Robert Miller Gallery on January 6th. We spoke to Sebring about his collaboration and connection with one of rock’s most endearing icons.

So how did this whole project begin?
When I first met Patti in ‘95, I didn’t know a thing about her. I learned a little bit about her before I went to Detroit, but not a whole lot. I normally don’t like to research too many people that I photograph anyway. But I think when we met in Detroit, we had an immediate connection. It was sort of like we were meant to meet or something. She knew immediately that I didn’t know that much about her, which was kind of funny. But she actually loved that, my being innocent to the whole project. A lot of the time, we just hung out. I remember her saying, “You better take some pictures.” I think I ended up taking maybe ten roles of film and that was it.

What was it about her that you felt connected to?
I found her to be very innocent, very attractive. She’s a mom, you know. I found her place interesting. Just like an old house where her and Fred brought up the children. I found it all to be very sweet. Among all the things in the house, I noticed some transcripts from William Burroughs and things like that just lying around everywhere, an ironing board sitting in the living room. It was very—to me, kind of rock and roll. You know, guitars everywhere. I didn’t think of filming her until she invited me to Irving Plaza in New York, and then that’s when she was completely different. She was so different on the stage – I was speechless, I didn’t know what to say. I was dumbfounded by her. And I said, “Has anybody filmed you?” Just being naïve and stupid, you know. And obviously Robert Mapplethorpe has. She sort of laughed at me. But I kept asking her and—because I told her I had no ambitions, I just wanted to film her. I was learning to make films and I was dabbling in it, and it was sort of my hobby, and then she finally let me come to London and I just kind of got hooked on hanging out and filming her.

There’s an exchange in the movie where it comes up that you’d never seen Don’t Look Back.
I still haven’t! Patti, about three Christmases ago bought me this beautiful Bob Dylan box set with Don’t Look Back. The packaging is really beautiful, but I have not yet put it in the DVD player. I don’t know why I haven’t—well, a lot of it has to do with time, I get so tired. I’m always amazed that people have time to watch my movie. I realize how difficult it is to watch a film. So no, I haven’t watched it. When people refer to Don’t Look Back with my film, I’m a little shocked by it, but it’s a nice thing as well. I’m hoping that Dream of Life has that kind of long-term stability. It is nice to know that there’s not going to be another thing done on Patti like this. It’s nice to know that in history, I’ve done something. Some sort of worthy document.

Could you explain how you’ve distilled your film into the exhibition?
When the editing process started—it took a year to edit the piece—I actually filmed her more to make all the other stuff make sense, because I had footage from all around the world. So we decide, okay, let’s just go to your bedroom, to the corner—because a lot of times, that’s where she’s always working and I’m there working with her. It just seemed appropriate to put her in the corner of her room. And she would just tell me stories about some of these things. So those actual pieces that she talks about, her childhood dress, Robert [Mapplethorpe]’s urn, little things like that—a tambourine—I felt they had such incredible stories. People that view this stuff in the film, they’re seeing the story, or they’re seeing it visually. For me, I was actually able to touch it, look at it closely, just really get another vibe, where you can see the dust, you can see everything. And you know, what I do is take pictures. And I wanted to do these still lives of them, sort of very Irving Penn, very back-lit, document style. So I wanted you to be able to look at these artifacts and see their own stories in the pictures. Because in the pictures, you can see every detail in the actual artifact. So when you see the film, and then you can see this piece in a photograph, and you can see the detail and see the dust, I felt that that was a really cool thing to experience. And vice-versa too. You can look at these pieces and then see the film. I don’t know why more people don’t do that in filmmaking, because it’s another interesting way to go.

Part of what you’re doing in this exhibition is basically making art out of a living person’s mementos. What does that transformation mean to you?
I’m actually starting to work on a project called Objects of Life, and it’s based on other people’s objects. And I find that nobody’s really done anything like that. I can take any person—it could be a bum on the road or it could be a president’s personal thing, or it could be an actor or actress’s personal thing, and photograph it as a document. I just find that it’s part of their spirit, it’s a part of their life at one point, and it’s something of a keepsake to them, and it has a spirituality. I find that very interesting with Patti’s stuff—she’s very spiritual. All these objects have a very very deep meaning, and I find that very interesting, and I’ve been thinking—actually, it came from Patti. She goes, you know, you should do this with other people’s stuff, too, and combine it into one massive book. I always thought about that and it’s something that starting churning in my head, because I know so many people who have such great things to let me photograph. I find the spirituality around somebody—whether it’s just the object, it’s something sacred. So I find that if it’s just documented, it can become art. I think the way I document those things are so straightforward, and so almost contemporary that they just immediately sort of speak that way to me.

The exhibit has a distinctly sacred, almost shrine-like element to it. And the Patti Smith you capture in your film comes off as such a humble and down-to-earth person. What do you make of that contrast?
Well, I do think about her, as far as that there’s going to be a lot of pictures of her at the gallery. So it’s very much her, obviously. There’s a lot of portraits of her—it’s a lot of her things. It can be a little invasive, you know. The film is very very personal. And she’s been asked that question before too. She’s very quiet and very spiritual. And again, I think it has to do a lot with her and I. Because we developed such trust with each other that she let me do the movie. And with this exhibition, there’s a lot of trust within each other. We want to make sure that it’s not exploiting or anything like that, but it’s more inspired by some of the pictures and portraits that we made.

Do you see any corollaries between your career as a fashion photographer and your workon this project?
My fashion is so different compared to what I do for art. With my fashion clients, I do what I can to always push them. I learn about art and commerce big-time when it comes to fashion. When I shoot for Coach or what other companies I shoot for, I do what I do and I do it as best as I can on an art and commerce sort of way. My main objective is for them to be able to make tons of money. And it’s sort of like, my fashion work is really a great way for me to do my art, to do my film-making or book publishing. It allows me freedom to do those sort of things. That’s what I love about the fashion industry, is you can do quite well doing it, and I love what I do. Even the celebrity portraiture that I do, it’s another extension of what I do. I would say my celebrity portraiture is a lot more like my art, in a way.

And what is it about Patti Smith that drew you in and compelled you to spend so many years of your life making this film and now building this exhibition around her?
I’ve never met anyone like her. And I still to this day cannot figure out anybody like her on the planet. She’s really a national treasure. She’s a true artist. She does not conform, she does what she believes. She can be on stage and speak her mind politically, or anything else, which is rare. She can also dive into these poets and people that she’s influenced by. She really lives it. Like lives them, lives their spirit. I learned a lot about that, and I learned a lot about her performance and her art, her drawings. I mean, I keep collecting her drawings, I just love her drawings so much. And then she’s taking pictures. So she’s sort of all over the place—she’s a true artist like that. She’s taken Allen Ginsberg’s helm, and she was so close to all of these people, like family. She’s like the Arthur Rimbaud of our time. That’s something to be really kind of proud about, is having somebody like that from this country. That’s why I’m really interested in the POV broadcast, because it’s going to hit so many people who only think of her as a performer in the 70s that was like sort of this outrageous woman. When I met her, it wasn’t that. For me, it was just like mom, poet, outspoken in politics and a human rights activist, and then the performance. That’s why I wanted this film. Because she is so many things, and when people see the movie, they’re like oh, I had no idea. I hope people in this country sort of fall in love with her.

KEYWORDS: Music, patti smith, photography