Ray Stevenson "Not Just Punk" - New Book from the legendary music photographer

We went along to the Farsight Gallery for the launch party of the new book "Not Just Punk" from legendary music photographer Ray Stevenson. The gallery was packed with familiar faces including some that feature in the book itself including Gaye Black of The Adverts, Neal X of Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Spizzenergi. Also in attendance were Leigh Heggarty of Ruts DC, Tom Crossley of The Phobics, Barrington Francis of The Saints, Anne Pigalle, Chris Musto of Glen Matlock's band, Debsey Wykes of Dolly Mixture, Paul Kelly the Heavenly Films director, Clash DJ Scratchy Sounds, author Daniel Rachel, Roxy club owners Andy Czezowski and Sue Carrington and music photographers Paul Slattery (my Retro Man Blog colleague), Jill Furmanovsky, David Corio and Erica Echenberg. There was a presentation of some of the photos featured in the book and a Q&A session with Ray hosted by Farsight Gallery owner Sean McLusky (Subway Sect and JoBoxers). It was another great event at the Farsight Gallery which is located on Flitcroft Street just off Denmark Street close to the site of our beloved and much-missed 12 Bar Club. I'd recommend signing up to their mailing list as they do put on some superb shows which have previously included Mick Jones Rock 'n' Roll Public Library, the Batcave LP launch and artwork by Gina Birch of The Raincoats. 

Ray Stevenson with his new book "Not Just Punk"

Eric Waring, DJ Scratchy Sounds, Gaye 'Advert' Black and Paul Slattery

Gaye Black of The Adverts

Here's a brief biography of Ray courtesy of the Farsight Gallery...

Ray Stevenson started out as a teenage darkroom apprentice back in mid 1960's London. After meeting with rising folk star Buffy Saint Marie, discovered folk-nights at the Marquee Club, then he was introduced to seminal folk venue Les Cousins by Sandy Denny. Ray became a regular at both of these venues shooting many unknown musicians like Bert Jansch, Roy Harper, Al Stewart, John Martyn, Cat Stevens and Marc Bolan. Stumbling upon a Jimi Hendrix sound-check gave Ray a taste for plugged-in-guitars and opened up another trajectory that resulted in him photographing a much broader range of musicians. His photo ‘The Who at the Marquee 1967’ was used by the Royal Mail in their 2025 commemorative collection. But the Stevenson portfolio went beyond photographing the musicians of the day as his work also featured models, hippies, ballet dancers, the occasional film star and friends. One of those friends was David Bowie, whom Ray shot many pre-glam photos of. None of this activity was enough to pay the rent, so he took a 9-to-5 job in the BBC Open University dark-room. 

Sean McLusky (R) interviews Ray

Anne Pigalle with Spizz who features on the book's cover and inside... both photos above by Paul Slattery

Then in early 1976, Ray's brother Nils asked him to take some pictures of a new group called the Sex Pistols. And so began Ray's second wave of live visual work - capturing the nascent Punk movement and the New Wave and Post-Punk scenes that followed it. His photos of the Pistols, Clash, Siouxsie Sioux, Soo Catwoman, Jordan, 2-Tone, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, et al are now rightly seen as iconic and have been used in numerous books, magazines and documentaries.  His own photo books - Sex Pistols File, Vacant, the Siouxsie & The Banshees Book and Photopast - sold many thousands of copies worldwide and are regarded as collectors' items. In 2007  Ray was described 'as the most important rock photographer of his generation'. He has now released ’Not Just Punk’, a look back at some of those glorious times and people.

Paul Kelly, Paul Slattery, Daniel Rachel and Debsey Wykes

Paul Slattery, Ray Stevenson and David Corio

You can check out more about Ray Stevenson and order the book at his official website here. For more information on the Farsight Gallery please subscribe to their newsletter via their Farsight Collective site here or on Instagram here.

Sex Pistols in Carnaby Street by Ray Stevenson - Courtesy of Farsight Gallery