The Best Night of My Life
After being part of the photography exhibit “Punk: A Culture of Attitude” things went into hyper drive. I went on a mission to tell every newspaper in my home town, every punk podcast, every magazine, every blog, etc! I became a punk rock photographer networker. I wanted to make my mark in the world so I put my head down and went to work…DIY style!
As my profile grew so did my ambitions. “Why don’t I have my own solo photography show at Fathom?” “Wait a minute…a solo show…a real exhibition at a real gallery?” “Kevin what drugs are you on to think of such a insane idea? Ok for the record I do not use recreational drugs but I do take medication to help me deal with life and the darkness. Perhaps I didn’t realize that a “potential side effect” of anti depressants is that I would think of such a harebrained thing like having a solo photography exhibit”. Well, I guess I am on the right meds.
The stars must of been aligned that day at Fathom Gallery when Frank and I discussed it. His response to my inquiry was “lets do it”. I don’t think it really hit me until I was driving home and I told Elizabeth. It was so thrilling to be able to share it with her and my family.
Step one..when do we have the exhibition? How long should it last? Is there going to be an artist talk? Oh fuck an artist talk??? Step two…What is the show going to be called? How about “Punk Photography: A Fan’s Perspective”? This makes sense…I was a fan who was fortunate to bring a camera to some gigs in the early 1980’s. This title will have more to it in a future blog.
Step three…choose which photos to have in the exhibition…that was the easiest part.
Step four…getting people to show up. My philosophy was to “cast the net far and wide.” And that is what I did. The Daily Breeze, The Easy Reader, LA Magazine, The LA Times, punk podcasts, blogs, websites, and magazines. I even made flyers and dropped them off at stores on Melrose (Poseur of course), around LA and the South Bay.
The build up to opening was very stressful. I was calling Frank almost daily about the RSVP’s. “Patience young man. It will all work out great!” My ears heard that but my mind was saying “fuck what if no one shows up”.
Saturday night, January 11th! The night was finally here! We get to Fathom and we see this huge flyer in the window with my photograph of Henry Rollins with a fan showing the “horns” and below it said “Kevin Salk Punk Photograph: From A Fan’s Perspective On View: January 11-25.” I was floored. It felt very surreal. When I walked into the gallery, I was blown away with what I was seeing. It was my photographs on the walls and people were coming to see them! At that moment I really missed my mom. She would of been proud of her youngest son. I felt her presence the entire night.
My dad and step mom showed up early to check it out and do some photos. It was a very proud moment for me because as a kid I was a bit of a fuck up and drove my parents nuts with my punk rock exploits. My dad said “your juvenile delinquency is paying off!”
Now it was time to wait for the crowd to show up and boy did they. There was a line out the door! It was a total sell out. I had youngest daughter Ashley there along with my love Elizabeth, my sister and her two kids, my step sister, two of my cousins, my nephew, friends from high school, new friends, a guy from LA Magazine, etc. It was fucking nuts! It felt like an out of body experience. I was very humbled and grateful.
IT WAS THE BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE!
