What if you moved recently and found a bunch of old photos you had know were there, yet kinda forgot about? Thats what happened to me about 6 years ago. I found an old box of negs, 9,000 of them to be exact. I started sorting through them, doing some scanning, generally tweaking out on the oldest ones first – shot around 1979 to 1985 and showed them to my friend Ronna so she could help me figure out who some of the people were in the images. She said she wanted to show them to her husband (also an old friend of mine) who is a writer. The next thing i knnow, he proposed that we do an article for the LA WEEKLY. Now I love photography, always have, but I have always just done it for myself and never had any intention to get them out into the world. Often I would shot a roll of film, get it processed, and just thorough it in the box. I was surprized at what I had. Plus, i know that some of the stuff i have are of people who went on to make a public mark on the world, and a lot of early LA punk rock bands. I lived to see live music, now and then, but i was always shy and hiding behind a camera was a great way to observe people without looking like i was staring at them. I never thought to show my pictures, cause, well, The LA Early Punk Rock / Harcore thing is a bit of an old whore at this point. So many people have done it and not to be self depricating, but did it better then I. BUT when looking over the photos as a whole I relized that the connection between the friends, the fans, the places, the drugs, the sex and the music created a different kind of view then just, “Here is Henry of Black Flag” or “Heres Coutney Love when she was 16” or whatever…….
It is the day the LA WEEKLY article came out and I still have not seen it. We are having a Party / Openning for the show in two days. I have been 100 hours a week on this project for the last 5 weeks and i guess i am not one to really go take a look at the press, its still weird to me. My phone is ring off the hook.
Here is the official pree release for the show, very fancy!:
LA Weekly Photo Show w/ Black Fag, Gabba Gabba Heys, the Shocker [Edit] [Cancel]
1639 Vine Street
Hollywood, 90046
US
Cost: FREE !!!!!
Description: A Free Show featuring Photography by Jennifer Precious Finch. FREE BAR (need to know anymore??) get there early. Doors are at some weird early hour like 6pm. Bands at 8pm. 14 and SHOOTING: Photographs by Jennifer Precious Finch images from 1979 – 1986 :::::: On November 4th, LA WEEKLY will present an exclusive photo exhibition of photographs from the early eighties Los Angeles punk scene. :::::: The exhibition takes place at the Aidan Ryley Taylor Gallery and will feature never-before-seen photos of Black Flag, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Social Distortion, Christian Death, The Gun Club, The Circle Jerks, 45 Grave, Minutemen, and Courtney Love, as well some of the private moments experienced by these musicians and the kids that listened to them. :::::: The photographer; Jennifer Precious Finch, has been a fixture in the Los Angeles rock scene since she was a precocious twelve year old punk rocker at the beginning of the eighties. She went on to part of the raucous and revolutionary all-girl band L7, touring the world, making headlines, and playing sold out shows. :::::: Finch has been shooting everything around for over two decades and this exhibit is the result of narrowing down images from 1979 to 1985. Of the 4,567 negatives from this period, around 100 will be displayed. :::::: The exhibit will coincide with a special issue of the LA WEEKLY featuring the photographs with accompanying editorial by John Albert (award winning writer, co-founder of Christian Death and author of “Wrecking Crew”). The issue will publish on November 2nd. :::::: Aidan Ryley Taylor Gallery is located at 1639 Vine Street 90028 (1 block south of Hollywood Boulevard) in Hollywood. ::::::