Andy Warhol captured at the Factory in never-before-seen photographs

The allure and drama behind one of 20th century art’s most influential figures is captured in a new exhibition at London’s Proud Gallery. Photographer Nat Finkelstein spent three years with Andy Warhol at the Silver Factory in New York in the mid-1960s, at the height of the artist’s fame.

Finkelstein began his career interning for Harper’s Bazaar art director Alexey Brodovitch in the 1950s before going on to take photographs for Life and Sports Illustrated magazines. In 1962 he received a commission from Pageant magazine to photograph the Pop Art movement, which allowed Finkelstein to meet Warhol. Stunned by the apparent decadence at the Factory, Finkelstein resolved to capture this environment teeming with underground characters.

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In his photographs, Finkelstein captures Warhol as he moved towards using film as a medium, those in his close circle such as Edie Sedgwick and Bob Dylan, Betsey Johnson and The Velvet Underground. “I am a situational photographer,” Finklestein once said about the collection. “These unposed images were made when Andy Warhol et al were people, not products; young artists, not celebrities. Enjoy, but do not venerate.”

His fascination with the countercultures of the era led him to stay on as photographer at the Factory for three years, resulting in a collection that has the glamour, energy and edge of a 1960s film set. Upon falling out with Warhol and his turbulent circle, Finkelstein left the Factory in order to pursue a more politically engaged lifestyle.