Kicking off at SHOWstudio Shop this week is an exhibition of rock ‘n’ roll shooter Kate Simon’s portraits of William S Burroughs in celebration of the writer and artist’s centenary.

To capture a personality in an image is one thing, but to reflect the essence of one of the most equally enchanting and disenchanted literary outlaws? No mean feat. The exhibition also marks the debut release of Simon’s Cibachrome Edition portfolio, which features 11 haunting shots of Burroughs printed in the now extinct cibachrome medium. Simon’s renegade portrait style has encapsulated the likes of The Clash, David Bowie, Patti Smith and Andy Warhol, so to see her personal reflection of a Beat generation novelist who fathered the era is an experience that will linger.

Tempe Nakiska: How did you first meet William S Burroughs?
Kate Simon: I first met William S Burroughs when the writer Lester Bangs invited me to accompany him to an interview he was conducting with William. We met at William’s apartment on Franklin Street in Manhattan. It was December 30^th 1975 and it was also Patti Smith’s 29^th birthday. She came along later that day and I took a series of shots of her and William together – it was the first time they had met. I remember the day vividly because Lester was electrifying that day, his knowledge and understanding of William’s work even impressed Burroughs himself.

TN: Who was William S Burroughs as you knew him?
KS: William was very well mannered and very proper. From our first meeting we had a really effective rapport and we worked very well in photo sessions . As a portrait photographer it is exceptionally rare to find a subject that knows how to be photographed but William did. He was this rare subject that  stimulated you as a portrait photographer and knew how to be photographed.

In fact he was such an effective subject that during the shoots we never spoke a word. He didn’t need direction. A really great subject knows what you want and will help you get it. He was a photographer himself at certain stages and so over the course of many years we would meet up and I’d either shoot candid shots or photographs that had a specific purpose such as a book cover.

TN: Do you feel that the portrait medium presents a person as they want to be presented or as the photographer would like to present them? What was true for Burroughs?
KS: In regard to William S Burroughs – he was presenting himself in a very authentic way and I was trying to simply do an equally good job technically – to bring my skills to the shoot. Ideally both workers are trying to get the job done.

We had a mutual respect and he was a stand out subject with great eye contact and a huge respect for photography as a vocation. It was a thrill to be in his presence, to hear him speak – you don’t hear that kind of American accent any more. As a photographer I would say that a person’s speaking voice cues me more than anything else and the cadence, accent and vocabulary in William’s voice totally informed me as to who he was.

TN: Is it inevitable that candid photography tells a more honest story than stylised photography?
KS: No, I think that formal portraiture can be in the tradition of August Sander. It can reveal everything about a person’s character. Just because it’s a formal portrait does not mean that it won’t reveal a person’s real self.

TN: What draws you to the portrait medium?
KS: I was drawn to the medium because of my inspiration from Cartier Bresson. As a child my surgeon father was an amateur photographer and he would show me pictures by Cartier Bresson. That’s what drew me to the medium.

TN: You have photographed iconic and tempestuous legends of the music industry and Burroughs fits in that category in the  controversial subjects his writing addressed. What draws you to creatives of controversial renown?
KS: I am simply drawn to people of intelligence, people who inspire me.  I only photograph people who have inspired my thinking. If you look through my work  you can see that I am drawn back again and again to those subjects. It’s easy to assume that all rock musician are morons but in fact most musicians are cultured, widely read and innovative thinkers. John Lydon, for example – I’ve shot him time and time again but you won’t find a single photograph of Sid Vicious in my archive!

William S Burroughs Portraits 1975–1995 by Kate Simon runs from 14th March–9th May 2014 at SHOWstudio Shop, 19 Motcomb St, Belgravia, London SW1X 8LB

Images courtesy of Kate Simon and SHOWstudio