Dark, glamorous and hedonistic: a photography book captures New York in the 1990s

New York: High Life, Low Life, by Dafydd Jones, goes behind the scenes of New York society

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black and white images of people at parties
Dachshunds fighting over doggy canapés. Iris Love (holding Just Desserts) and Brooke Astor (holding Dolly Astor) at a dachshund party, Barbetta restaurant, 1990
(Image credit: © Dafydd Jones)

‘I think it is quite a dark impression of New York as it was,’ says photographer Dafydd Jones, who spent the 1990s capturing the city’s most exclusive parties. ‘It is an insight into who was considered important at fashion shows, benefits and parties.’

black and white images of people at parties

Ivana Trump, Fashion Group couture show, The Plaza Hotel, 1990 (in the middle of her divorce from Donald Trump)

(Image credit: © Dafydd Jones)

Jones, who had previously photographed Oxford and London’s upper class, was hired by Vanity Fair magazine to attend New York society’s hottest parties, capturing celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Joan Rivers, Kate Moss and Johnny Depp, President (then Senator) Joe Biden, Leona Helmsley, Brooke Astor, Donald and Ivana Trump, Anna Wintour, Naomi Campbell, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robert Mapplethorpe and Michael Milken.

black and white images of people at parties

Martha Reed with Champagne twizzle stick to remove bubbles. Spanish gold medal Gala. Pierre Hotel. New York November 1989

(Image credit: © Dafydd Jones)

‘In England, I’d become too well-known as a Tatler photographer. It was wonderful to be invisible again.’ Jones adds: ‘I hope readers may laugh, be moved and maybe a bit scared. My process for choosing the images starts in the darkroom. The photography book is an edited selection of images from a box of prints I made last year. So what the readers are seeing are reproductions of darkroom prints. Often I’m thinking of the light and shade and tones and printing with rich blacks and not considering the subject matter.’

black and white images of people at parties

Front row applauding Carolyne Roehm’s spring collection. Jerry Zipkin, Nan Kempner, Annette Reed, Judy Peabody, Henry Kravis, Chessy Rayner, Mica Ertegun, Pat Buckley. Plaza Hotel, 1989

(Image credit: © Dafydd Jones)

For Graydon Carter, New York in the 1990s was a world ablaze with ambition and glamour. ‘This New York was the one of new money trying to catch the attention of old money and of Wall Street vampires who raided the accounts of widows and orphans while their wives dined on quenelle and salads (dressing on the side) at places like La Grenouille and Le Cirque.’

New York: High Life, Low Life is published by ACC Art Books and is available to buy at Amazon, £27.99

black and white images of people at parties

Maria Paterno Castello di San Giuliano, Princess Asaea Beatrice Reyna di Savoia, Miss Hikari Ohta and the maid, Chatting in the ladies powder room during the International Debutante Ball. Plaza Hotel. New York. 29 December 1993

(Image credit: © Dafydd Jones)

black and white images of people at parties

Paul Newman, Natasha Richardson and Lauren Bacall

(Image credit: © Dafydd Jones)
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Hannah Silver
Hannah Silver

Hannah Silver is a writer and editor with over 20 years of experience in journalism, spanning national newspapers and independent magazines. Currently Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*, she has overseen offbeat art trends and conducted in-depth profiles for print and digital, as well as writing and commissioning extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury since joining in 2019.