The Art Of Punk: Ruby Ray's Punk Passages

Hello!

I have found your site by searching Yanka, who I have just learned of.  Her music is great! I am a photographer who has just published an EBook of my punk photos from 1977-1981.

Please take a look at it and share the link on your website or with anyone who would be interested. I will explore further on your site, but Here is my link.  Cheers to you and Peace.

Ruby Ray

In 1977, punk broke through the world psyche like a jackhammer. While the rest of the world listened to disco, a generation of disaffected artists, musicians, filmmakers, and their fans created a new music and look, and a philosophy to embrace it.   In 1977, San Francisco was the center of a vibrant punk scene rivaling Los Angeles and New York. Punk Passage: California and Beyond, 1977-1981 features more than 40 images by photographer Ruby Ray of some of the early mavericks central to the San Francisco and Los Angeles punk scenes. Ray began chronicling San Francisco’s punk scene from the beginning. She helped create the look of the seminal punk culture magazine Search & Destroy, and later RE/Search Publications, of which she was a founding member. Her home and office became a perpetual salon giving her access to many of the punk-era’s musicians and artists. The Punk Passage collection consists of live B&W and color music shots set within a 20th century landscape of decay, with portraits of the musicians, artists, and fans who were the driving force of the movement. Featured bands include The Screamers, Avengers, Mutants, Dead Kennedys (with singer Jello Biafra from Boulder, CO), and Flipper; and people like William Burroughs, Sid Vicious, Darby Crash of The Germs, and Silver Plume, CO resident Fritz Fox of The Mutants. (...)

Ruby Ray: William Burroughs in a San Francisco Garden 1980

Ruby Ray’s images have appeared in many magazines and books about the punk rock era. (Her iconic photo of Darby Crash is on the cover of his biography “Lexicon Devil.”) They transcend mere band photography and capture the energetic scene with an eye grabbingly graphic and severe beauty.

Her historic documentation of San Francisco’s 1970s & 1980s underground music, art, and culture scene provides a rare insider’s look at this pivotal time in the city’s musical history.

Many of these photos will be appearing in her hardback photo book From the edge of the world, West Coast Punk 1977-81, and in her epic online E-Book, Punk Passage, with over 250 photographs (both due out this spring 2012). A version of this exhibit was viewed by almost 10,000 people when it was shown at the San Francisco Public Library’s Jewett Gallery in 2009.  Punk Lives!! (>>>)

Ruby Ray: Roky Erikson – Not a Demon 1977

Punk Passage photographer Ruby Ray joins curator/photographer Richard Peterson and curator/media artist Cinthea Fiss for an afternoon of presentations related to their punk rock photography and experiences with the San Francisco and Denver music scenes. Attendees are invited to have their own music photography portfolios reviewed by the speakers after the presentations (Limit 12, surcharge applies).

Ruby Ray lives in San Francisco. Her images of the 1970s & 80s underground music, art, and culture scenes provide a rare insider’s look at the city’s and punk rock era. Cinthea Fiss is a media artist living in Silver Plume, CO. Richard Peterson’s “Artists and Rockers” photographs are on display at MCA Denver March 30 – June 14 and at Gildar Gallery March 23 – April 21. (XXX)

Ruby Ray: Paul Roessler and Tomata Du Plenty on Broadway 1978

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