The surviving subjects of photographer Jeanette Montgomery Barron‘s nostalgia trip/retrospective Scene, published by powerHouse Books, have probably all given up the cigarettes they once so cooly dangled from their mouth corners and are in bed by 10pm with a wheatgrass and spirulina smoothie. But for the artists of 1980s New York, back when these images were taken, it was late night parties and early morning workouts that filled their waking hours, punctuated only by the most necessary periods of sleep.

Despite the high-octane, energetic values of the time, the people in Scene‘s photographs are remarkably calm-looking, almost dreamy. Montgomery Barron displays a knack for catching her subjects in contemplative mood – while Andy Warhol never looked like he was in a hurry in anyone’s pictures, he’s joined here by a legion of similarly laid-back artists, directors and actors captured in 70 photographs that make up this fascinating snapshot.

Salomé
From Scene by Jeannette Montgomery Barron,
published by powerHouse Books.

Kathryn Bigelow
From Scene by Jeannette Montgomery Barron,
published by powerHouse Books.

Andy Warhol
From Scene by Jeannette Montgomery Barron,
published by powerHouse Books.

Scene by Jeannette Montgomery Barron,
published by powerHouse Books.