Archive: Hells Angels 1970-73

The year as 1970. The New York chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club had their clubhouse on East 3rd St in Manhattan. At the time, I was young and brash, believing that I could emulate Danny Lyon’s book "The Bikeriders" that had come out in 1968. I decided to approach one of the Hells Angels and ask him if I could take his photo. I was introduced to Sandy, the president of the NYC chapter. I told him what I had in mind, and he permitted me to photograph. I hung out with the Angels for the next two years taking photographs of everything that I could. I poured myself into the project even though there were times when I said to myself, “What the fuck am I doing here?” It was an exhilarating, risky, and challenging time. I decided to end the project after two years when I realized that Sandy would never permit me to release my images in a book or for sale without his permission. I’ve waited nearly 50 years to show these images.