Ramones, Sex Pistols, Clash, Patti Smith Group, Lou Reed, photographers, writers, managers were often Jewish punks. I compiled this list in 2005. I have poor Jewdar, kinda weird considering I am Jewish. But I didn’t grow up around a lotta Jews. Call me #clueless. I was stunned to find out so early punks were Jewish. […]
People love to say I photographed punk of the 1980s. I always correct them. I photographed FIRST gen punk in the 1970s! They are DIFFERENT eras. I could write a book about how and why 1970s punk is VERY different than 1980s. If nothing else, we had more mass media coverage in the 1980s. MTV. […]
Welcome to a brief history on Jenny Lens, MFA, the Punk Years. Creator of some of the most iconic Punk Photos, first generation, 1976 to 1980, punk photos based in LA. Classic photos of New York, British, San Francisco and other bands. How did it start? I waited in line, towards the end of the marquee […]
Did POTUS Carter suppress punk? (DO NOT MAKE ME LAUGH). How political was early punk? Did punk influence or be influenced by politics requires investigating the mid-1970s. I wrote this because a Facebook pal asked me some questions about punk and politics for her college paper. It is obvious to me what people think NOW […]
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. 2:46. I didn’t know I’d be talking. It was sooo noisy and I was nervously excited. Little experience in front of the camera. I prefer being behind […]
Interview circa 2008. Punk Globe: First can you tell us about yourself. Where you grew up and what inspired you to take photos? Jenny Lens: I was born in West LA, raised mostly in Northridge, near Cal State University, Northridge (where I later earned my BA in Art). I am really smart, curious, creative, talkative […]
What is it about Saturday (Friday too) nights that I feel on a cellular level? Was it coming home for photographing of lovely opening to find all hell broke loose in my apartment building? Moved into paradise until a despot took over. Lady MacBeth and Professor Moriarty (think meaner and vicious). Without detailing it, let’s […]
Alice Bag interviewed Jenny Lens in 2004. Alice is considered by many to be the very first hard core singer with her radical band, the Bags, who first hit the streets in 1977. Their riotous show at the Troubadour, known for folk singers and laid-back rockers, is still talked about today. I always considered Alice […]
by Richard Schaefer in Lisa Fancher’s “Street Life” fanzine. Proof I was the Ramones “numero uno fan and famous paparazzi in her own right.” In EARLY 1977!! Tantalizing sounds of the skirmishes of desire, of lips surrendering cheap kissed in the other room, brought torture to anyone who listened. We stood between the jungle and […]
I wrote this in 2004. My attitude is far better, thanks to SO many great Facebook comments, messages, emails and IRL (in real life) encounters. Enjoy! I was born and raised in LA. I was a shy, introverted adolescent in the wild sixties of Vietnam protests, free love and sex due to the pill and […]
