Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Punks Not Dead


I'm super-excited about the 'PUNK: Chaos to Couture' exhibit that's opening at the Met this month.  It's got me thinking about the influence of punk in my own life.  As a teenager, I experimented with spikes, safety pins, and combat boots.  My best friend and I dyed our hair with Manic Panic and painted our nails with black polish in rebellion against small-town 'normal'.  I was very shy and fashion was the only way I could outwardly express how different and out of place I felt in the small city I grew up in.   

I photographed Sid & Kristy in London several years ago.  For these two, I think punk was a lifestyle that went beyond fashion and teenage rebellion.  To me, they represented the real, deep social alienation that gave birth to the whole punk movement in the first place.