DAYS OF PUNK
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When I came of age in the late seventies and early eighties, it was in the middle of an artistic rebellion that changed the face of politics and culture forever.
This was the era of Punk: bold, self-expressed, and free. An era of music, attitude, and fashion that spat in the face of the established norms.
I had grown up in an old-world Italian household in suburban New York. Tradition and rules marked my childhood. I was told how to be, how not to be. I felt stifled. Walking into my first punk club in Boston at age eighteen, I found I suddenly joined a club where everybody belonged. I could finally be myself, or at least find out who I really was.
Wear what you want! Say what you want! Make music however you want! In this culture of acceptance, myself and countless others dove headfirst into a journey of social and artistic freedom.
This was my life from 1978 to 1991, in sticky black-walled punk clubs at night, in the bowels of Boston, with punk bands that would eventually become legends, as they started off on tours around America. I toted my 35mm film camera and captured punk stars on stage, behind the curtain, and on gritty Boston streets.
The spirit of Punk was extraordinary, its music endures. It marked me forever. This collection of work has never before been seen. As you look at these images, I hope you also get touched by its infectious freedom.
Michael Grecco, July 2019
