Michael Grecco

Days of Punk
8th March – 16th April 2022

“The spirit of Punk was extraordinary. It marked me forever.
As you look at these images, I hope you also get touched by its infectious freedom.”
– Michael Grecco

From the late ‘70s to the early ‘90s, photographer and filmmaker Michael Grecco documented the nightclub and concert scenes in New York and Boston when punk exploded in the U.S. and later morphed into post-punk and new wave movements. As an Associate Press photographer – and a self-described “club kid” – he had a unique opportunity to embed himself into this revolutionary scene as both a chronicler and a participant. Down and dirty in the thick of things, onstage and backstage, Grecco captured for posterity a riotously outspoken time in pop culture history, with all its raw energy, emotional power, and outrageous antics. Images shown in this inaugural presentation of the multi-media “Days of Punk” exhibition are selections from Grecco’s new book, Punk, Post Punk, New Wave: Onstage, Backstage, In Your Face, 1978–1991 (ABRAMS Books), which is comprised of 162 black & white and colour shots of artists including Johnny Rotten, Talking Heads, Human Sexual Response, Joan Jett, The Clash, and the Ramones, among many others.

Born in New York City, Grecco attended college in Boston, Massachusetts, where he began his professional career shooting for the Associated Press and covering the music scene for the legendary radio station WBCN-FM. Shooting at concerts and nightclubs, Grecco had a unique opportunity to embed himself in this revolutionary scene as both a chronicler and a participant. Onstage and backstage, Grecco captured for posterity a riotously outspoken time in pop culture history, with all its raw energy, and outrageous antics. 

Photographs are available from Photiq as framed, limited edition prints. These are printed on fine art archival paper and mounted in black frames under anti-reflective glass. Each numbered edition print is accompanied by a signed certificate of authenticity.

A limited number of books are also for sale at Photiq, priced at £30.

Words from the Artist:
“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 and New York, 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 city streets.

These photos sat dormant in flat files for 30 years before I began revisiting them with my archivist. It is a thrill that they are now unleashed to share with you.”

About the Artist

Michael Grecco (born 1958–) is an award-winning photographer and director based in Los Angeles. He is recognised internationally for his high concept imagery, mastery of lighting, and powerful connections with his subjects in an immense body of work that encompasses fine art, celebrity portraiture, music, commercial, and editorial photography. Born in New York City, Grecco attended college in Boston, where he began his professional career shooting for the Associated Press and covering the music scene for the legendary FM radio station WBCN. Previously unseen photographs from his time as a music photographer comprise his latest book, Punk, Post Punk, New Wave: Onstage, Backstage, In Your Face, 1978–1991 (Abrams), and the accompanying multimedia exhibition Days of Punk, which premiered at Photo London in 2021 and is currently traveling the world.

Michael has lived in Los Angeles since the late 1980s when he was invited by People Magazine to come west to be a celebrity photographer for them. He has continued to create new work ever since, and his images have also appeared in publications including Time Magazine, Vanity Fair, Esquire, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, and Rolling Stone, among many others.

A father to three, Grecco lives and works in Santa Monica with this wife and their two Russian Blue cats. In his spare time, he can be seen exploring his adopted hometown’s diverse neighborhoods and subcultures on his Triumph Bonneville, with a favorite camera in tow, ready to find, capture, and inspire. Michael Grecco is represented by Atlas Gallery and Iconic Images in London, The Howard Yezerski Gallery in Boston, Modern Rocks Gallery in Austin, TX, and The Photo Gallery, Halmstad, Sweden.

View more work by Michael Grecco (Artist website, external link)