Sacred Debris

Robert having his nipple pierced. (Patreon)

Published:

2022-09-29 19:00:04

Imported:

2026-06

Tags:

1970s Nipple Piercing Piercing Robert Mappelthorpe Sandy Daley Video

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I was digging through my old Tumblr account looking for a photo that I never found when I came across this; I'd originally shared it in 2016, and I'm fairly sure it was featured on the old SD blog, but for folks who've never seen it- here you go.

1970 video of poet/doctor Herbert Krohn, who lived at the Chelsea hotel, piercing the nipple of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Filmed by Sandy Daley - who filmed a companion piece in 1971 titled Patti having her knee tattooed and featuring Patti Smith and Vali Meyers - this video brought piercing into the NYC art scene years before it would explode on the West Coast.

If anyone has a lead on Patti having her knee tattooed- please get in touch!

Files

Previews only

"Robert Having His Nipple Pierced" - Documentary excerpt

During the voice-over to Nigel Finch's documentary on Mapplethorpe (currently available in its entirety at http://www.ubu.com/film/mapplethorpe_arena.html), it is claimed that: "In its day, Robert Having His Nipple Pierced achieved some notoriety as an underground classic, and even had the dubious distinction of alerting Andy Warhol to the potential of movie making." Considering that most of Warhol's key works were produced before 1968 - Eat (1963), Blowjob (1964) and Chelsea Girls (1967), to name just a few - this must be a factual inaccuracy. According to Patricia Morrisroe's "Mapplethorpe: A Biography", Robert Mapplethorpe and model David Croland met during Memorial day 1970 (Morrisroe, p. 86), the same year in which "Robert Having His Nipple Pierced" was filmed.