Monday 29 April 2013

PUNK+ The Photographs of Sheila Rock: New Limited Edition Punk Rock Photo Book out now from FirstThird Books


Buzzcocks by Sheila Rock
Legendary London fashion emporium Browns on South Molton Street, played host to the launch of PUNK+, an independently produced, limited edition, superb quality book that presents a fresh view of the Punk movement, through the lens of renowned photographer Sheila Rock. Browns will also be the exclusive book distributor until May 09th. Sheila Rock was party to numerous intimate moments of Punk. Her unique perspective comes through her portraits of influential acts including The Clash, The Jam, Generation X, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Subway Sect, The Damned and the Buzzcocks. She also documented some notorious yet till now unseen events in punk history such as The Moors Murderers rehearsals.

PUNK+ chronicles both designer and street styles between 1976-9 that had such an effect on fashion, society and politics, including Vivienne Westwood’s shop SEX as well as BOY, Robot and Acme Attractions. It is a fascinating insight into one of the most influential transformations of music and celebrates the scenesters who were the punk audience, and the designers that clothed the movement. As Paul Simonon (The Clash) comments: "This book is a great photographic record of a major shift in British street fashion". Sheila’s conversations with Chrissie Hynde, Tony James, Don Letts, Jeanette Lee, Glen Matlock, Chris Salewicz, Jon Savage, Steven Severin, Paul Simonon, Jah Wobble and more, provide an illuminating commentary on the punk phenomenon. As she observes "Punk was all about changing and surviving". All books are numbered and signed and feature 199 full colour and black and white photos from Sheila Rock's personal archive. The foreward is written by Nick Logan the Editor of The Face magazine and there are captions and quotes from a host of Punk Rock luminaries including Paul Simonon, Chrissie Hynde, Jah Wobble, Don Letts, Chris Salewicz, Glen Matlock and Rob Symmons from The Subway Sect.

Subway Sect by Sheila Rock
USA-born, Sheila Rock has lived in London since 1970. Her photographic career took off in 1980 on The Face magazine. Sheila exhibits regularly in London and internationally. Her portrait work includes a wide range of entertainment and music glitterati, and her editorial work appears in publications from Vogue to The Sunday Times. Her work can also be found in the permanent collection of London’s National Portrait Gallery. She is currently working on a number of fine art projects. PUNK+ is her second book.

The Damned by Sheila Rock
FirstThird Books is an independent publishing company specialising in high quality music photobooks and PUNK+ is Limited to 2000 numbered and signed books, including 300 deluxe versions exclusively available through the FirstThird Books website. PUNK+ is the second in a series of limited edition titles, following the soon to be sold-out book on the legendary Indie icons Felt. This book features some excellent early Felt photographs by Retro Man Blog's Paul Slattery.

Generation X  by Sheila Rock
Paul Weller by Sheila Rock
Siouxsie by Sheila Rock
All photos are copyright Sheila Rock & used with permission.
With many thanks to Lee at [stop] Press and Janet at FirstThird Books.

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