On Saturday night, July 24th 2019 I was going to have my photos in an art exhibition at Fathom Gallery along side some serious music photographers! Drew Carolan was trained by Richard Avedon and has published books and has had solo exhibits around the world.  Jenny Lens shot the Go Go’s and X in the 70’s, Jeff Mayer has been shooting concert photography since the year I was born (1965), Richard Aaron is one of the most published photographer of the twentieth century.  He shot the Sex Pistols during their infamous tour in the US. My photographs were going to be on the same walls as these legends!  Was it a dream?

Everything was moving so fast.  Tuesday…got the call from Fathom Gallery.  Wednesday…signed the contract with Fathom.  Thursday…brought all my negatives to be scanned.  Friday…signed my prints.  Saturday…my prints are in an exhibit called ”Punk:  A Culture of Attitude” at Fathom Gallery in West LA with Drew Carolan, Jenny Lens, Richard Aaron, Jeffrey Mayer, Tracy Anne White, Kevin Salk, and George Ortiz  What a minute!  Who is this Kevin Salk dude and why is he in the same sentence with these photographers??  Never in a million years did I ever expect this to happen.  I didn’t start in the shallow section, I was thrown right into the deep end with no water wings or even a floaty.

What do I wear?  Do I have anything remotely punk rock looking in my closet? (I was on an over thirty five year hiatus from punk rock)  Should I bring some Pepto Bismal just in case my stomach explodes?” “I hope they have a lot of wine!” My nerves were on hyper drive and I was trying not to freak out.

Fortunately the love of my life, Elizabeth, who has had her own art exhibit and knows the gallery world very well.  She worked at SF MOMA and MOCA so she was a pro.  Oh yes she also has a PhD in Art History.  “Try to relax and have fun” she said.  RELAX? I was the opposite of relax.

I see this big sign on the side walk in the front of the gallery that had one of my photos of Henry Rollins and next to it was a photo by Drew Carolan of the front of CBGBs and a photo of Iggy Pop by Richard Avedon. This just got very real.  This shit was really going to happen. Five days earlier I was just living a normal life with my girlfriend and now things would change…FOREVER!

As the people starting to show up,  I asked myself “so what the fuck do I do”…”What do I say to people”…“where’s the wine?”.  I see a couple looking at one of my Misfits photos and I muster up the courage to go up to them…“so what do you think of the photo?”…“I was the one who took it when I was a teenager in 1983”.  It was so out of my comfort zone.  It turned out to be a very nice conversation and I started to get some confidence.  Back to reload my glass of wine for the next chat.

When I looked around the gallery I was amazed at all the incredible photos from the punk scene…80’s NYC Hardcore, late 70’s Hollywood punk, photos of the Sex Pistols, and others.  It was hard to put my mind around the fact that I was part of it.  I wasn’t in their league, I was just a punker kid back in the early 80’s who decided to bring a camera to some gigs.

When the night was over I couldn’t believe what had just happened.  I went from totally freaked out to pure exhaustion.  It was such a rush and it took me a number of days to process.  Little did I know that this was the tip of the iceberg.

TO BE CONTINUED