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PUNK The Definitive Photography Archive

More than four hundred museum-quality photographs documenting the birth of punk through the lenses of the photographers who witnessed it. From CBGB and Max's Kansas City to the Roxy and London's underground, this archive brings together vintage prints, contact sheets, Polaroids and rare exhibition works from the movement that changed music forever.

394 works

MUSEUM HIGHLIGHTS

A curatorial selection from the TMPG Punk Photography Archive
Sixteen works introduce the collection through the artists, photographers and photographic objects that defined punk’s visual history. From the New York Dolls, Patti Smith and the Ramones to the Sex Pistols, The Clash, Blondie and Siouxsie Sioux, this selection traces the movement from its early New York roots to its emergence as an international cultural force.

Contact sheets, original Cibachrome prints and fine art photographs are presented together, reflecting TMPG’s approach to the archive: not simply as a record of music history, but as a history told through photography and the physical objects that preserved it.
Ramones, contact sheet, New York City, 1976, photographed by Roberta Bayley.
Ramones, Contact Sheet, New York City, 1976TMPG·0518
Roberta Bayley From $1,400
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Patti Smith, CBGB, New York City, 1975, photographed by Allan Tannenbaum.
Patti Smith, CBGB, New York City, 1975TMPG·6934
Allan Tannenbaum From $1,500
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Johnny Rotten, London, 1976
Johnny Rotten, London, 1976TMPG·8774
Ian Dickson From $1,250
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New York Dolls, West 29th Street Studio, NYC. November 1973, photographed by Bob Gruen.
New York Dolls, West 29th Street Studio, New York City, 1973TMPG·2454
Bob Gruen From $1,200
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Richard Hell with 'YOU MAKE ME ___' written across his chest, the Blank Generation cover image by Roberta Bayley, 1977.
Richard Hell, "Blank Generation", New York City, 1977 — Original Cibachrome PrintTMPG·3174
Roberta Bayley Price on request
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The Clash, London, 1977, photographed by Sheila Rock.
The Clash, London, 1977TMPG·6758
Sheila Rock From $1,000
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Original contact sheet documenting Blondie during the recording of Parallel Lines at Record Plant Studio, New York, 1978. Photograph by Martyn Goddard.
Blondie Recording Sessions for Parallel Lines, Contact Sheet, Record Plant Studio, New York, 1978TMPG·8278
Martyn Goddard From $550
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Television, CBGB, New York City, 1977. Photograph by Ebet Roberts.
Television, CBGB, New York City, 1977TMPG·1046
Ebet Roberts From $1,000
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Stiv Bators, Dead Boys, CBGB, 1977, photographed by Godlis.
Stiv Bators, Dead Boys, CBGB, 1977TMPG·2358
Godlis From $1,200
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Sid Vicious and Johnny Thunders, New York City, c. 1978, photographed by Bobby Grossman.
Sid Vicious and Johnny Thunders, New York City, c. 1978TMPG·4758
Bobby Grossman From $1,500
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Siouxsie Sioux, 1980, photographed by Sheila Rock.
Siouxsie Sioux, 1980TMPG·8950
Sheila Rock From $1,000
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The Damned posing outside Mercury Records in London, UK, photographed by Ian Dickson.
The Damned Outside Mercury Records, London, UK, 1977TMPG·2790
Ian Dickson From $1,250
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Iggy Pop on All Fours, 1970
Iggy Pop on All Fours, 1970TMPG·5654
Photographer not assigned From $1,500
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Lou Reed, London, 1972 (1)
Lou Reed, London, 1972 (1)TMPG·5750
Mick Rock From $2,375
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Talking Heads, CBGB, 1977, photographed by Godlis.
Talking Heads, CBGB, 1977TMPG·5302
Godlis From $1,200
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Billy Idol bleached and spiky on a New York street in a pale-pink jacket, photographed by Roberta Bayley, 1978.
Billy Idol, New York City, 1978 — Original Cibachrome PrintTMPG·9958
Roberta Bayley Price on request
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BEFORE PUNK — THE DNA OF A MOVEMENT

The artists and attitudes that existed before punk had a name
Punk did not begin with a single band, club or year. Its visual and cultural language was already taking shape in the early 1970s through artists who rejected the conventions of rock and created something more immediate, confrontational and independent.

Iggy Pop and the Stooges brought physical danger to the stage; the New York Dolls collapsed the boundaries between glam, street culture and provocation; Lou Reed carried the legacy of the Velvet Underground into a new decade; and Patti Smith fused poetry, art and rock within the emerging downtown New York scene. Johnny Thunders, Richard Hell and others would soon carry these impulses directly into punk.

These photographs document the years before the movement acquired its name — the people, gestures and ideas from which punk would emerge.
Iggy Pop, London, 1972 (1)
Iggy Pop, London, 1972 (1)TMPG·3926
Mick Rock From $2,375
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Lou Reed photographed by Mick Rock for the Transformer album cover, London, 1972
Lou Reed, Transformer, London, 1972TMPG·5894
Mick Rock From $2,375
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18 of 394 works