Clayton Patterson

• Name — Clayton Patterson • Born — 9 October 1948 • Birthplace — Calgary, Alberta, Canada • Known for — Photography

Patterson was born on October 9, 1948, in rural Alberta, Canada. Growing up in "the bad end of the working class", he left home at 15 and studied art at various colleges across Canada. He moved to New York City in 1979 with his partner Elsa Rensaa.

Since 1982, Patterson has maintained a residence, workspace, and gallery at 161 Essex Street in the Lower East Side.

On August 6 and 7, 1988, police clashed with the young anarchist squatter population in Tompkins Square Park on the Lower East Side causing a massive riot. Patterson had initially gone out to video tape a performance at the Pyramid Club, but noticed a lot of activity around the park as well as a sizable police presence. The restless, anarchistic, politically active, squatter population was gathering in protest over the newly enforced 1am curfew. When the riot broke out, Patterson began taping the incident in full detail. His footage from the night's events (some 3+ hours) became instrumental in exposing police brutality and resulted in the indictment of six NYPD officers. As a result, New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau ordered Patterson to surrender his tapes and camera. Patterson refused the order and was sentenced to 90 days in jail. After a 10-day hunger strike, Patterson was ultimately released after turning over a copy of the video.

In 1986 Patterson and Ari Roussimoff created the Tattoo Society of New York with the assistance of Elsa Rensaa. Roussimoff left the Society in 1989, and its leadership was carried on by Patterson and Rensaa. In 1997, Wes Wood, L.E.S. City Councilwoman Kathryn Freed, and Patterson worked successfully to make tattooing once again legal in NYC.

In 2008, Clayton Patterson's life and work were the subject of the documentary film Captured. The film was directed by Ben Solomon and Daniel Levin and produced by Jenner Furst. Marc Levin was the executive producer. The New York electroclash band A.R.E. Weapons contributed original music to the film.

In April 2014, The New York Times Alan Feuer reported that Patterson was considering leaving New York City for the Austrian spa town of Bad Ischl. Patterson is quoted as saying of NYC, that "[t]here's nothing left for me… The energy is gone. My community is gone. I'm getting out… I didn't really leave the Lower East Side. It left me." Patterson ultimately changed his plans and remained in New York City.

Patterson's collection of photography, video, art, press clippings, and books comprise a vast archive of Lower East Side history. The collection includes approximately half a million print photos, hundreds of thousands of digital photos, thousands of hours of video tape in multiple formats and numerous artworks by Patterson and Rensaa as well as other New York artists. The archive also consists of various ephemera from the streets of New York City including brand stamped glassine heroin bags, protest banners and fliers, graffiti stickers and art. In addition to the hours of Tompkins Square Park footage, the video archive contains a large number of interviews, concerts, and street protests (including the ACT UP AIDS protest). Patterson's documentation of the NYC hardcore punk scene of the 1980s and early 1990s includes footage of Bad Brains, Murphy's Law, Sick of it All, Reagan Youth, Sheer Terror and G.G. Allin. His videos interviews with artists Richard Kern, Nick Zedd, Joe Coleman, Annie Sprinkle, H.R. Giger, Kembra Pfahler (of the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black), Ira Cohen, Pyramid Club dancers Phoebe Legere, Dee Finley, folk historian and ethnomusicologist Harry Smith and numerous tattoo artists, colorful characters and NYC community leaders comprise an extensive historical document of the city.