Jenny Lens, MFA, Punk Pioneers Punk Photographer, 1976-80
See tons of pix and hear untold stories about the birth of LA punk, interacting with New York and British bands, parties and good times. Lots here, so sit back and enjoy!! LA Library, January 10, 2015. 1 hr, 47 minutes of cool pix and stories. Buy photos! Please tell folks. Thanks!My archive cannot survive without […]
April 1977 was THE month LA punks came out in force. A movement was coalescing. New York, England, San Francisco and LA creatives were changing world music and culture, forever. I was there, photographing everywhere, everything and everyone! We gathered for Cheap Trick opening for the Runaways, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium (April 1), opening […]
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 […]
Creem Magazine was THE ROCK magazine. The best of the best was, without a doubt, Creem. Forget Rolling Stone. Corporate and usually dismissive of Punk. Yes, Creem magazine was the BEST ROCK MAG. Ever. Read on to see they didn’t treat me that well, lost slides, but hey, THEY WERE IT. And Creem, of all the mags, […]
Claude “Kick Boy” Bessy, in “Decline of the Western Civilization,” Part 1, directed by Penelope Spheeris, reads a letter to the editor of Slash Magazine, his role at that pioneering punk fanzine. He relates the tale wherein the writer is complaining about people who threw themselves onto the back bumper of the car and held […]
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 […]
My rebuttal to article claiming Punk saved the Whisky but then talked more about non-punk bands. Minimal about LA Punk bands. I could write a book. Read what I wrote (below or use link) after reading his long article. Why the fashion photo above? Author included photos of English punks with swastikas on their faces. Not in LA! Plus […]
My photos comprised the majority of photos in Live at the Masque: Nightmare in Punk Alley. My photos were used for all the covers, backs, interiors, and booklets for the 3 CD set, Live at the Masque, produced by Exene Cervenka of X. You can see footage of me whipping lead singer Tomata du Plenty, when […]
