The Music Photo Gallery · Represented Photographer

100+ Works ·50+

Chris Stein

B. New York City ·50+

Portrait of the photographer

Biography

Chris Stein is a musician, photographer, and co-founder of Blondie. While helping shape one of the most influential bands to emerge from New York's downtown scene, he also created an extraordinary photographic record of the people and places that defined the era.

Beginning in the late 1960s, Stein photographed friends, musicians, artists, and performers across New York City. As Blondie became central to the emerging punk and new wave movement, his camera remained a constant presence, documenting the creative community from the inside.

His photographs capture Debbie Harry, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Joey Ramone, Iggy Pop, William Burroughs, and countless figures connected to the cultural transformation of downtown New York. Rather than working as an outside observer, Stein photographed the world he lived in, producing images that feel immediate, personal, and historically significant.

His work has been exhibited internationally and published in several books, including the acclaimed memoir and photographic volume Negative: Me, Blondie, and the Advent of Punk.

Today, Chris Stein's photographs remain an essential visual record of one of the most influential artistic communities of the twentieth century.

In the artist's
own words

"I always had a camera with me."

Chris Stein

Richard Hell at pool, New York City, 1977

Chris Stein From$1,000

Debbie Harry at Coney Island, 1977, photographed in color by Chris Stein.

Debbie Harry, Coney Island, 1977

Chris Stein From$1,000

Debbie Harry in a zebra-print swimsuit, 1976, photographed in color by Chris Stein.

Debbie Harry, Zebra, 1976

Chris Stein From$1,000

Debbie Harry in the Top of the Pops dressing room, photographed by Chris Stein.

Debbie Harry, Top of the Pops Dressing Room

Chris Stein From$1,000

Debbie Harry with a frying pan in the 17th Street apartment, New York City, 1977, photographed by Chris Stein.

Debbie Harry, Frying Pan, 17th Street Apartment, New York City, 1977

Chris Stein From$1,000

Debbie Harry in a vultures shirt, 1976, photographed by Chris Stein.

Debbie Harry, Vultures Shirt, 1976

Chris Stein From$1,000

Produced & distributed by TMPG

TMPG Touring
Exhibitions

Museum-scale productions drawn from Chris Stein's archive — available for museums, institutions and festivals worldwide.

Gallery

Downtown New York: 1975–1982

80 WorksView Exhibition →

Gallery

Me, New York City and the Punk Scene

40 WorksView Exhibition →

Selected career exhibitions & projects

Career Exhibitions & Selected Projects

A selected record of museum and gallery presentations, publications, assignments and significant projects from Chris Stein's career.

Type

Title

Venue

Year

Exhibition

Negative: Me, Blondie and the Advent of Punk

Storefront Gallery at the Chelsea Hotel, New York

2014

Exhibition

Under A Rock

SoHo Grand Hotel Gallery, New York

2025

Publications

Books

Monographs, catalogues and photography books from the archive.

Point of View: Me, New York City, and the Punk Scene

Chris Stein

Rizzoli · 2018

A photographic portrait of downtown New York during the 1970s and early 1980s, featuring Chris Stein's personal documentation of the artists, musicians, and cultural figures who shaped the punk and new wave era.

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Under a Rock: A Memoir

Chris Stein

St. Martin's Press · 2024

Chris Stein's memoir offers a firsthand account of Blondie's rise, the downtown New York art and music scene, and the cultural figures who shaped the late twentieth century. Illustrated with personal photographs and reflections, the book provides a rare insider's perspective on punk, new wave, and creative life in New York City.

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Chris Stein / Negative: Me, Blondie, and the Advent of Punk

Chris Stein

Rizzoli · 2014

A landmark photography book documenting the birth of New York's punk scene through Chris Stein's photographs of Blondie, Debbie Harry, CBGB, and the artists who defined downtown New York in the 1970s.

View Publication →

Moving image & archive

Films, Interviews
& Television

Documentaries, recorded interviews and television appearances from the archive.

Documentary

Debbie Harry & Chris Stein - Punk

Documentary2019

Interview with Debbie Harry and Chris Stein

Debbie Harry + Chris Stein - Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years Of SNL Music

2025

2 short clips of Debbie Harry and Chris Stein from the 2025 American documentary film 'Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music'.

Interview

Chris Stein Interview | The Music Photo Gallery, Buenos Aires (2019)

Interview2019

Chris Stein discusses his photography, Blondie, and the cultural legacy of downtown New York during a conversation recorded at The Music Photo Gallery in Buenos Aires in 2019.

The Guardian

Blondie’s Chris Stein: ‘Being in a band is this secret society, like the Masons’

The Blondie guitarist talks about his new photography book, doing target practice with William Burroughs and witnessing 9/11

Forbes

Blondie Guitarist Chris Stein Misses Old New York — Luckily, He Documented It

An in-depth interview exploring Chris Stein's photographic archive, his documentation of downtown New York, and the making of Point of View.

Please Kill Me

Chris Stein: His Photographic Point of View

A feature on Stein's photography, examining how his images became one of the defining visual records of New York's punk and new wave scene.

The Guardian

Debbie Harry by Chris Stein: A Life in Pictures

Chris Stein and Debbie Harry discuss Negative, revealing the personal photographs that document Blondie's early years and the birth of punk in New York.

The Guardian

I'm a fan of chaos: Blondie's Chris Stein on Bowie, Debbie Harry and 50 years in rock'n'roll

Chris Stein reflects on five decades of music, photography, art collecting, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Debbie Harry, and the stories behind his memoir Under a Rock.

Parts Unknown (CNN)

I Find People Taking Pictures of Their Lunch Insufferable

Chris Stein discusses his lifelong relationship with photography, the New York punk scene, and why documenting everyday life mattered more than creating perfect images.

Chris Stein

From the archive.