Book Reviews

Punk ‘77 by James Stark

Punk ‘77

Review by Drew Tewksbury, Flaunt Magazine, February 2007

Long before T-shirts emblazoned with the sequined likenesses of Johnny Rottens appeared in Hot Topic stores, punk was as a reaction to the commodified rock-’n'-roll culture of which, ironically, it is now a part. In 1977, punk was anything but mall fodder, or at least that’s what James Stark’s book Punk’77 wants us to believe. Juxtaposing black-and-white photos with personal testimonies. Punk ‘77 is a lot like a yearbook, an open-faced memoir that lifts the safety-pinned tartan skirt on a San Francisco punk scene struggling with its identity at the convergence of aging hippies, lamé disco suits, and teen ennui. Stark’s photographs illuminate the architecture of a developing scene in which torn denim, exposed clavicles, and padlocked chokers were de rigueur. Images of a young Debbie Harry, looking coy behind oversized sunglasses inside a dark, dilapidated club, Darby Crash, on stage, clenching a fist and holding a snarling note, and Joey Ramone’s kneecaps peeking through ripped jeans, act as details of a larger picture of artistic revolt against an emerging empire of consumer culture. In the spirit of prototypic street photographers Mary Ellen Mark, Diane Arbus, and Weegee, these punk images show adolescence as that fleeting time of malleable identity and experimentation. “Hopefully”, Stark writes “Punk ‘77 will give some insight as to why and how people create an identify for themselves and their time.”

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© 2007 Drew Tewksbury: Multimedia Journalist.