959, Leni Sinclair born Magdalene Arndt left a West Berlin refugee camp bound for Detroit, where relatives lived. A teenager with a love of Beat poetry, avant-garde jazz and film, she carried a camera wherever she went. Soon immersed in the Detroit’s underground arts and leftist politics, she met John Sinclair and began photographing the jazz scene, which led to photographing rock shows by the likes of the MC5 (whom she and John managed) and the Stooges. Over the years, Leni amassed an invaluable, unrivaled archive that has finally received a proper showcase, Motor City Underground. Richie Unterberger spoke at length with Leni Sinclair for PKM about her book and her incredible journey.
By Miss Rosen on July 17, 2021
Fifth Estate editor, Peter Werbe, Deanna Clemage, 1960s
Black Panthers Meeting, Year Unknown.
Born Magdalene Arndt in 1940, Leni Sinclair grew up in East Germany listening to jazz artists like Harry Belafonte, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald on Radio Luxemburg. At age 19, Sinclair moved to Detroit to study at Wayne State University. She quickly became involved with the radical political and cultural scene, becoming one of the two members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in the city.
In 1964, she met poet John Sinclair, and married him the following year. Together they set up the Detroit Artists Workshop, a network of communal houses, performance space, and print shop that became the center for the Detroit music scene, attracting the likes of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk, all of whom Sinclair photographed.