Review: 'Punk Post Punk New Wave'

From the late seventies through the eighties, Michael Grecco photographed nearly every artist that mattered: The Clash, The Ramones, Talking Heads, The B-52s, Devo, Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Dead Kennedys, Lene Lovich, Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joe Jackson, Buzzcocks, Nick Lowe, Madness, Adam Ant, and on and on. A new collection of his work, Punk Post Punk New Wave, is as much a testament to Grecco’s great taste in music as it is a display of his talent behind the lens.

 

Grecco’s pictures radiate action, and not just when they catch Siouxsie screaming or Wendy O. Williams in the midst of some illegal act on stage. Even his band portraits and behind the scenes snaps are full of vitality. The B-52s mug like the cartoon characters they are. Lovich contorts herself like Regan McNeil. Adam Ant bursts with joy as he shows off his prized T. Rex and New York Dolls LPs.

 

You can photograph pictures of punk musicians until the cows drop dead, but that doesn’t make your pictures punk. Grecco cracked the code with his ability to pull the trigger at just the right moment his subjects looked most impassioned, overjoyed, angst ridden, animated, and transcendently attractive. Punk Post Punk New Wave doesn’t have a ton of text, but I guess you don’t need it when the pictures shout so loudly.