Photographer Linda Aronow’s Homage to the L.A. Punk Scene

The Editors

 

Gallery 30 South is currently featuring the Punk Photography of Linda Aronow.

 

Aronow was the manager of WACKO on Melrose in Los Angeles during its heyday in the 1980s and ‘90s when Punk was becoming New Wave, but the post-Punk sound was giving way to what would soon be termed Alternative Rock.

 

As Aronow explains, “After some really awful jobs (including working a week in a Fotomatbooth and the J.C. Penney Portrait Studio at Fox Hills Mall), I found my way over to Melrose and spent an amazing decade managing Wacko when that street was the coolest place to be.

 

Some of the bands I shot during this time worked in shops just up the street (Patrick from Kommunity FK and Edward from Nervous Gender both worked at Poseur). I was able to shoot Black Flag at a surprise show at UCLA, which provided a rare opportunity to photograph them without having to dodge stage divers; although there was a weird kind of chivalry back then where people looked out for you and your camera–usually.”

 

On the weekends, kids flocked from East L.A. and the Valley to Melrose Avenue to buy their Doc Martens and Manic Panic hair dye, and Aronow was everybody’s favorite Goth shopkeeper.

 

In the evenings, Aronow was busy documenting the live music scene of that era and managed to capture still photos of the most iconic bands of the day over multiple gigs spanning over a decade. 

 

The collection of photographs that comprised her first exhibition (A Punk Rock Primer: L.A. 1982 – 1992), included intuitive snapshots of Minor Threat, Henry Rollins & Black Flag, T.S.O.L., The Damned, Christian Death, GBH, Kommunity FK, Social Distortion, Alice Bag, and some of the first ever shows by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

 

For Aronow’s sophomore exhibition, Gallery 30 South is showcasing another assortment of never-before-seen photos from L.A.’s Punk Rock Golden Age.

 

For more information, visit: Gallery 30 South.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Photos courtesy of Linda Aronow and Gallery 30 South
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