Michael Jang, a San Francisco based photographer, grew up in Northern California and spent much of his high school years putting on psychedelic light shows for bands on the road. In 1971, looking to put his career on a surer footing, he enrolled in the Design School at CalArts. There he learned about the work of Lee Friedlander and Garry Winogrand, two photographers interested in the quirky particularities of everyday life. Soon he got himself a camera, a tuxedo, and a fake press pass, and started crashing parties and receptions at the Beverly Hilton, capturing candid pictures of David Bowie and Frank Sinatra, along with debutantes and socialites, and Beverly Hills dowagers. He also took this picture of students partying in 1973.

Read more in Hua Hsu’ s “Photo Booth essay in the August 24, 2019 issue of The New Yorker.