Jork Weismann: Asleep at the Chateau

Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles is a fantasticalfolly in the land of make-believe. As Harry Cohn, the founder of ColumbiaPictures, said in 1939, “If you must get in trouble, do it at theChateau Marmont.”Several generations of actors, directors, writers and artists haveheeded Cohn’s advice, from Dorothy Parker and F. Scott Fitzgerald toHunter S. Thompson and Jim Morrison. The hotel has provided a refugewhere both partying and privacy are equally available—where you can holeup to write a script or ride your motorcycle through the hotel lobby (as LedZeppelin once did).James Dean climbed through a window of the hotel to audition with Natalie Wood for Rebel Without a Cause; Jean Harlow and Clark Gable conducted an illicit affair there;Jim Morrison used up what he called “the eight of my nine lives”when he fell off its roof;and celebrities from Greta Garboto Howard Hugheshave takenup extended residence within its hallowed walls. Asleep at the Chateau pays homage to this fabled place by picturing its quieter moments. Here, photographer Jork Weismann portrays a range of celebrities asleep at theChateau—among themBret Easton Ellis, Kirsty Hume,Patti Smith, Orlando Bloom, Juergen Teller,Sally Singer and Justin Theroux.Sprawled out in chairs, on couches or across the floor, Weismann’s subjectsreveal both themselves and the Chateau as they have never before beenportrayed.