Punk Pioneers Photos and True Tall Tales by Jenny Lens, MFA
Press/Tap Blue Arrowhead in vid for a fast, fun-filled overview of THE coolest earliest punk rock photos and narration from ONE LA Woman!
Welcome to the classic punk photo archive of Jenny Lens, MFA, the most published early west coast punk photographer, first gen, 1976-80.
Glad You Are Here! Stay Awhile. Have Fun!
A few of the many publications and exhibits with my photos. I never update my resume, CV, listings. Too busy with today to pay heed to yesterday.
I appreciate and encourage you to share everywhere!
PLEASE ONLY USE MY Text and MY Photos with ACCURATE details and use some of MY Text!
Please download from any public page here. Start with Social Media Photo Gallery.
Never ever share anything from my PRIVATE Punk Pioneers Club!
Thanks and now FUN Adventures await you …
I am one of the 10 Influential Rock Photographers, Adorama Camera.
“Jenny Lens was not just one of the few photographers chronicling the early punk scene in both North America and London, she was also one of the few women working in a very male-dominated field. Her life is pretty fascinating and made up of the three acts usually associated with characters in movies and novels.”
Read more @ Adorama Camera.
Shepard Fairey used my photos for his iconic Dee Dee Ramone and Joe Strummer posters.
“It’s been an honor to collaborate on this art with Photographer Jenny Lens, whose candid shots of the early punk scene are nothing short of amazing.” — Shepard
Tomata singing “Peer Pressure” while Jenny Lens whips Tomata! And laughs my ass off cos I was soooo high!!! Drunk? Acid? Trippin for sure!
Tomata singing “I’m Going Steady with Twiggy” while Jenny Lens whips Tomata!
“The was a time when Punk Rock was dangerous, man — in a cerebral way. And Jenny Lens was there to record it all.” — Garage Magazine
“Please investigate PUNK PIONEERS by photographer Jenny Lens, who captured the scene so perfectly.” — Henry Rollins, LA Weekly.
Sign up for early bird info on Grand Reopening of my Improved Punk Pioneers Club. Get sneak previews with vids, podcast, rare and newly discovered Clash, X, Germs and more never seen Photos, True Tall Tales and more! Don’t miss out!
Once upon a time … when music, fashion, graphics, film, vid, high energy, endless creativity, rebels and outcasts (and in LA, lots of wild women – we did it ALL!) — and plenty of cute men — with low cost of living, a few us of came together to change world culture. Fun times.
Look. Read. Feel as if you were there. Or are revisiting. Fun adventures await you!
“Jenny Lens is a punk’s punk. It was her photos that helped launch the like of Germs, The Clash, and The Go-Gos into the public consciousness.
It isn’t just the ladies who owe her a debt of gratitude for paving the way, though — photogs everywhere have her to thank for forging a spirited live language.” ~ Flood Magazine.
LA Deck Photos
NY, British, etc Photos
Contact me ONLY after you’ve checked out this site if you are looking for photos not posted.
- READ Photo Prices, Shipping, etc BEFORE ordering or writing me!
- You cannot use these photos for commercial usage [make money, selling anything with my copyrighted photos] without MY explicitly written permission.
NOTHING is PUBLIC DOMAIN!
VIDEOS!
Talking about my photos at Shepard Fairey’s Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die, Subliminal Projects.
I was ONLY woman and earliest punk photographer in the exhibit. 2/25-3/26/2010.
Oh, I was really excited to share my intentions, exciting memories and significance of these specific photos.
Yet in pain and fury cos I was within inches of my mortal enemy. OMG. So I drank a lot of tequila. Which I usually avoid. I still have the ltd ed bottle from the VIP room.
Spoke with Raymond Pettibon, the brilliant poster designer for Black Flag. Hiding out like I wanted to be!
Drew Barrymore was more drunk than I! She was having fun and sooo sweet! She bought my Joan Jett and Lita Ford “Dueling Guitars” right off the wall. She will always be a GREAT memory.
Rainy, crazy night! So rock n roll!
I don’t talk this fast in my Punk Pioneers Photos and True Tall Tales Private Club. I talk much more slowly. And spend far more time detailing and zooming into photos.
Germs Rise and Fall with Jenny Lens Punk Photos
The Germs were a band destined to have a short shelf life yet become legendary. I hung out with and photographed them because we all ran around in overlapping circles. I basically photographed many because they were fun and dressed wildly. Who knew they’d become iconic and legendary? Way cool!“Jenny! You have a keen eye. You’ve always been the most incredibly talented decisive photographer but at times underrated. Your body of work is superb, thank you for your decades of perseverance.
Your back catalog of photos should serve you well during your golden years! [Ha ha, that’s a laugh]
We’re the same age! I’m likely older but have fond fun memories of you from the 1970s. Stay well, stay safe.
With sincere warmest wishes, Ginger Canzoneri ps I think I have the polaroid shown in this photo on the stage floor in front of the drum kit!!”
(I always wondered who has that Polaroid. Glad Ginger got it! – JL)
Ginger Canzoneri Management ~ Ginger is THE woman who magically transformed a punk girl band into the record setting, inspiring, fun, legendary Go-Go’s. She’s a talented artist who represents some of the world’s best photographers, graphic artists, authors and others. So that’s quite THE compliment. I appreciate all she’s done and doing.
Are We Not Men: Early Devo in LA with Photos by Jenny Lens
Devo were and are FABulous. I shot them a few times. Sadly most of my Devo files went missing. So here’s a few to enjoy!A Quick One with the Germs with Photos by Jenny Lens
A glimpse of the high tech skills I am forced to learn, update, rinse and repeat to turn a shitty photo into something STUNNING. More in my Punk Pioneers club.
And yeah, no fucking AI shit. Just lots of high end art skills, a trained eye and updated tech skills.
The color wheel onscreen is totally different than traditional paint color wheel. Red, Yellow and Blue won’t work. So I had to relearn how screen colors, Red, Green and Blue work. Who knew???
“The Girl with the Camera Eye” per Patti Smith.
In the Eye of the Storm. Ground Zero of the earliest west coast punk era, 1976-1980. RAW. ROUGH. REAL.
When punk first exploded and changed world culture forever!!
“The infamous Jenny Lens, supreme master of the punk rock photo.” — San Francisco Bay Guardian
NO AI!!! NO ASSSISTANTS!
Everything you see, read, hear, watch was created by Jenny Lens.
ALL COPYRIGHTED info cos no fucking AI.
No shitty images taken from who knows where.
When you see my photos elsewhere, you are usually seeing the shittiest version of these amazing photos.
Usually with wrong info too!
So enjoy the REAL THING from the REAL woman who created EVERYTHING here
(Other than attributed quotes.)
“How to Look Punk” in 1977 Hollywood on Lethal Amounts gallery and site magazine.
The following taken from their article, which included many of my photos and quotes from various sources:
“How To Look Punk” exclusively features photos by Jenny Lens, the premier photographer of the first wave of Los Angeles punk rock.”
“Lens, who shot from 1976-1980, knew how important it was to document the revolutionary fashions that were taking Hollywood Blvd by storm. She was there from literally beginning to end, and her work is the most crucial link in preserving the visual history and fashions of this era.”
“I often photographed people based on their creative clothes, dancing, love of partying and posing, in a time when this was rare.
The fans who migrated to the Hollywood shows often were colorful, vintage clothes from thrift stores or something they created themselves.” — Jenny Lens, an excerpt from her website, Punk Pioneers.
“More fabulous photos of 1977 Hollywood punk style can be found in a lecture posted on YouTube by Jenny Lens, accompanied by a commentary slideshow.
Mandatory viewing for anyone thirsty for knowledge about where this fashion came from and the characters that put it on the map”.
[their link appears to be dead. I am looking for it … www.lethalamounts.com/magazine-index/2020/8/10/how-to-look-punk-in-1977-hollywood]
MY MISSION MY WHOLE LIFE is about sharing MY stories and MY photos per MY documented memories.
And some reliable memories of those who created first gen punk yet whose voices are silenced by bullies who say their drunken memories are more valid.
- I only want to joyfully uplift and inspire people.
- MOST of all, I ONLY want to share True Tall Tales while I am still able to work this hard … and my time is rapidly running out … as I go blind and my teeth fall out and my bones get more brittle and fragile.
- NOT exaggerating one bit!!
- YOU try living this way, giving all to punk since 1976.
Wassup with those digits moving around the vids? Blame all the fucking assholes who steal my photos, text and vids. Then defame and attack me online and in real life.
IF you want to see MY photos and hear my stories, you’ll blame them.
A life of hard work, poverty and debt cos of Photo Thieves and Defamers, Embezzlers and even an Armed Robbery. January, 1980.
I do this ONLY to show and share these amazing photos and True Tall Tales with YOU!
Some will record the screen and re-post my vids. Apps will track them and take them down. But yeah, distract us a bit.
But it’s this or nothing!
So YOU can feel like we did, having s much fun creating early punk, 1976-80.
I spend a HUGE amount of time and money so I can make enough to continue. I live frugally.
NOW you know why the watermarks. Would YOU live this hard to share your unique Photo and Ephemera Archive and True Tall Tales and live a very hard life?
I laugh and cry at these amazing photos I took while being WILD. OMG. We were wild in the streets and everywhere else.
I kept whipping and pushing and grabbing Tomata! No camera. I came to par -tay.
Cos usually, I was working it!
Diving into my archive makes us feel like it were yesterday.
Let’s have fun and laugh and dance!