Arriving in New York in the spring of 1974, Roberta Bayley began working the door at CBGBs, New York’s legendary punk club. She started photographing the musicians who played there and soon went to work as chief photographer for Punk magazine, which gave the movement its name. She is one of the main photographers to visually chronicle the early punk rock scene, from 1975 through the 80s.
Among the artists Bayley has photographed are Iggy Pop, the Ramones, Debbie Harry and Blondie, Richard Hell, Elvis Costello, the Sex Pistols, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, Ian Dury, Brian Eno, Nick Lowe, The Damned, The Clash, The Dead Boys, X-Ray Spex, Squeeze, and a reunited New York Dolls.
Bridging generations of rebellion and creativity, this exhibition unites new and old faces of the NYC punk scene through the lens of five photographers across the last five decades.
From the 1970’s birth of punk and the peak of iconic east village venue CBGB to the alternative punks of color scene that today flourishes throughout all 5 boroughs, witness the evolution of this raw and unapologetic movement that continues to thrive and transcend boundaries, proving once and for all that punk truly isn’t dead.
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