On Tour Since 2007

We did our first Unguarded Moments show in October 2007 at Erin Austen-Abbott's One Night Stand at the Ole Miss Motel, a pioneering gallery concept.  Its been a never ending tour since then.... there are a couple people without whom this tour would not have grown the wings it did... Gregg Kostelich & Barbara Garcia-Bernardo of Get Hip, and Angelo & Lisa Madrigale who owned Metropolis Gallery in Harrisburg, PA. THANK YOU

Unguarded Moments, Backstage and Beyond

To many people, Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde, Joan Jett, Belinda Carlisle and Billy Idol were always pop superstars with gold and platinum albums, Grammy nominations and inductions to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders, 1980
first published by UK zine Zig Zag
 

The truth is, in 1977, they were all gritty punk rockers hanging out in night club backrooms with their friends. They wore vintage or home-made clothes and did their own hair and make-up. They partied with each other and punk rockers from other cities, as inadvertent good-will ambassadors for the new music. Those parties, backstage rooms and unguarded moments are presented here, in the UNGUARDED MOMENTS: BACKSTAGE AND BEYOND touring exhibit of photos from the Golden Age of Punk Rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Backstage with Debbie Harry of Blondie and Pleasant Gehman, 1978

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE

The velvet rope, the locked door, the secret password – it is human nature to want to sneak a peak into the hidden world of the “beautiful people” – celebrities, rock stars and their companions living the life reported in gossip columns and on tabloid television shows. Unguarded Moments give you that glimpse.

Joan Jett and Billy Idol at her apartment, May 23, 1978

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unguarded Moments satisfies our human curiosity about “the other” – “the renown” - 

celebrities and the infamous.




While this collection showcases a most famous and enigmatic superstar at his peak, Bob Dylan in an Unguarded Moment, some of the then-unknown punk rockers have become bonafide international stars in the 30 years that have elapsed since their ground-breaking punk days. Deborah Harry of Blondie, Joan Jett of the Runaways, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go’s, Billy Idol, then of Generation X and three of the original members of the Ramones – Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee are all bold-faced names. Others, like Stiv Bators (also deceased) of the Dead Boys have influenced legions of musicians who became more well-known than their idol.


Dee Dee Ramone and Stiv Bators, 1979

While most of the celebrities and rock stars seen Backstage and Beyond reign supreme in the underground world of punk rock in the 70s, a few more highly recognizable mainstream and iconographic stars are featured in this exhibit (e.g.: Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, James Garner, TV's "Maverick" and "Rockford").


Photographer Theresa K., Keith Richards and Punk Magazine mascot, the late John Spacely

Punk rock has been embraced by the mainstream. All media is once again responding to the Sex Pistols marketing genius on the 30th Anniversary of the release of their only album. More venerable institutions such as the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, and colleges and universities are offering courses of study, seminars and lectures on the topic! More and more consumers, ranging from fans to the simply curious are joining alongside cultural scholars to dig deep for evidence from the early days of this movement looking for a story behind how and why rock n roll’s rebellious nature continues to be a dominant force in contemporary culture. This exhibit is a MUST-SEE EVENT!

Unguarded Moments is a visual record of the life, times and trajectory of punk rock pioneers, their friends, fans and the celebrities, who like the beautiful people of Andy Warhol’s ‘60s, came to revitalize their “street cred” by slumming with the “stars of tomorrow” in the gritty backstage environs of the Sunset Strip. The images provide a taste of punk rock history as it was being made, and as seen from the inside.

Every picture does indeed tell a story.


Belinda Carlisle, 1977

Punk rock music, style and fashion brewed up as a zeitgeist around the world. It grew up in the public eye in New York City. It exploded in London, and the kids in San Francisco, Los Angeles and the world over heartily embraced it.

While punk rock developed as a simultaneous culture clash everywhere, it was in Theresa K's native California where she captured the ultimate in punk rock's most identifying character trait - nihilism, and at the same time, its exact opposite: promise and exaltation.

The Germs play with toy guns in their first ever rehearsal, 1977

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

California punks were anti-hippie – a movement born in their own San Francisco; they were definitely anti-disco and like most kids, they were also anti-parent and anti-social. West Coast punk attitude was powerful and shocking in comparison to the laid-back, easy-going California style that gave to pop culture rock n roll's biggest selling band of all time (The Eagles).

Patricia Morrison of The Bags, 1978
defining style for future Goth chicks everywhere

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of Theresa's photos taken in various Unguarded Moments, Backstage and Beyond have already laid the visual foundation of our collective punk rock memory. In addition to shooting the photos that adorned some of LA's seminal punk singles picture sleeves such as The Germs Forming, scores of Theresa's photos have been seen in magazines such as Creem, Rolling Stone, Playboy, Trouser Press and Music Life, in various fanzines from LA's Lobotomy, of which she was part, to the UK's Zig Zag.

First seen in Creem Magazine, now featured in two books on Joan Jett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her vintage work is currently featured in various recently published books, including PUNK365 by Holly George Warren and BOMP! by Suzy Shaw and Mick Farren. She was also one of the many punk rock veterans who contributed to Amy Wallace and Handsome Dick Manitoba's The Official Punk Rock Book of Lists.  (October 07 publication dates for all three titles.)

Two books on Joan Jett also feature her works (Joan Jett by Todd Oldham and Joan herself, and Bad Reputation, by Dave Thompson).

Before he was Darby Crash, the Germs singer called himself Bobby Pyn, 1977

The photo above, of an introspective pre-Darby Crash Bobby Pyn is one of the earliest photographs taken of him. None of the band members had their punk hair cuts and punk clothes yet! They were playing together as a band for the first time in this ad-hoc rehearsal room fashioned from Pat Smear's mother's West Los Angeles garage. The images gathered on this early 1977 day represent the tone and calibre of the Unguarded Moments collection.

This moment of introspection reveals neither Bobby Pyn nor Darby Crash, but the inner Paul Beahm, the young man who would take his own life on December 7, 1980, just a little more than three years after he decided he would take music and the world by storm. Ironically, Darby's punk rock suicide was overshadowed even in the local news by the international tragedy of Beatle John Lennon's murder on December 8, 1980.


The Germs "forming" outtake, 1977

This image, renown to the punk rock and record collecting communities since early 1977, is an alternate frame from the first ever photo sessions the Germs did. That day's shoot yielded the cover of their single "Forming." It was a session they asked for; a favor from their friend, photographer Theresa K., then a student at UCLA, living in the dormitory Hedrick Hall. Paul Beahm, the man who would become Darby Crash often sought refuge in the Hedrick 3rd Floor North Lounge from a school and home life that didn't understand him.

The Unguarded Moments collection within the Punk Turns 30 archive is the only one anywhere that truly shows The Germs as they were Forming.

Mostly, Unguarded Moments joyfully illustrates a phenomenon unique to the bi-coastal Los Angeles/New York culture: the intersection of punk rock with the Rock Elite and other boldface names.


Blondie, Sabel Starr and Rodney Bingenheimer visit The B-Girls Backstage, 1979

In her travels to San Francisco, New York and London from her native Los Angeles, photographer Theresa Kereakes gained the trust and confidence of many interesting punk rock personalities who willingly submitted to her camera. Kereakes captured intimate and unguarded moments of punk legends Debbie Harry, super groupie Sabel Starr, Mayor of the Sunset Strip Rodney Bingenheimer, Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Darby Crash, Dee Dee Ramone, Stiv Bators, Belinda Carlisle, “It Girl” Pleasant Gehman, members of the Sex Pistols, The Cramps, The Avengers, and many more.


Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols, 1978

In addition to the Germs Forming photo, many other Theresa K images have achieved icon status and wide exposure, such as the “Joan Jett and Billy Idol party at Joan’s Place” which has been published in 47 rock magazines around the world since 1978. Other images such as a “Rockford Files”-era James Garner posing with a scion of rock n roll roots, Billy Burnette, will be seen for the first time in this exhibit (and you'll have to go to a show to see it!)


Joan Jett and Billy Idol party at Joan's Place, 1978
published worldwide
Unguarded Moments: Backstage and Beyond is nothing short of an illustrated history lesson about a time where music evolved from predictable pop to chaotic experimentation. Full of dates and times and places, Unguarded Moments presents the people who, intentionally or not, revolutionized the popular culture of the late 20th Century.


Rodney Bingenheimer and Go Go's guitarist, Charlotte Caffey, 1980

During summers off from college, and after graduation, while working as tour manager and publicist for mainstream, “alternative” and punk bands, Kereakes took her camera on the road to clubs and recording studios and returned with images of all the emotional, spiritual and cultural shifts that changed the course of popular music.


Billy Idol, 1978

Ultimately, Unguarded Moments: Backstage and Beyond is that rare backstage-pass, an elite VIP invite to the after-show party and every rock 'n' roll fan's dream. Layered beneath the gloss and the grit is the truth behind fame: everybody has an unguarded moment where their innate humanity is revealed.


Dave Parsons of Sham 69, JFK Airport Lounge, 1981

Theresa has been exhibiting her Vintage Punk Pictures since September 2004 on a never-ending tour of United States rock festivals, night clubs, art galleries and indie record stores. The exhibit, Punk Turns 30 has met with rave reviews, celebrity endorsements and has landed in Cleveland, Chicago, Nashville, New York City, Memphis, Tampa, Tallahassee, Milwaukee, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The associated website of photos and behind the scenes stories, www.punkturns30.com has logged over 940,000 unique visitors, with more taking a peek every day .




Tour graphics, poster/handbills by faggotybackpack design

Unguarded Moments IN THE NEWS!

Several images from the Unguarded Moments: Backstage and Beyond collection are part of the Christie's Pop Culture Auction, to be held on June 23, 2009.

You can view the eCatalog RIGHT HERE or simply visit Christies.com and peruse their site. The Unguarded Moments images of The Germs and Belinda Carlisle comprise lots 49 and 50 in Christies Pop Culture Auction - check them out!

In 2008, Christie's, the venerable auction house, held two wildly successful, highly regarded and heralded auctions of Pop Culture artifacts. The November 2008 auction focused largely on memorabilia from the punk rock era. (Visit the NYTimes for pictoral coverage! or read their comprehensive coverage)

Now, in June 2009, punk rock once again comprises a healthy chunk of the items on the auction block.


The Germs - this image is one of the prints in Lot 49

We at Punk Turns 30 (which would be me, speaking as the Royal "We," god save the queen...) are both proud and perplexed about this phenomena.

On the one hand, we think, HELL YEAH! at the thought of being deemed collectible by an institution such as Christie's. It helps to bolster the notion we have held for our lifetime that photography IS fine art.

On the other hand, we simply feel like "Forrest Gump."  Who'da thunk that our misspent youth would become noteworthy rather than notorious?  Maybe it is notoriously noteworthy.

At the end of the day, we have YOU to thank:  the fans, the followers, the collectors, friends, family and supporters.

Now... please tell your rich friends about this auction!

Tour Diary - Lancaster, December 5, 2009 A Good Hair Day, among other things...

On the morning of December 5, my second morning in Lancaster, I went to the adorable and highly recommended Chestnut Street Cafe to get some coffee (and a red velvet cupcake) for breakfast... I brought with me some flyers for the exhibit's opening night, which coincided with the town's monthly First Friday art crawl.

I had a nice chat with the barista about which particular coffee they were serving that morning was the darkest, smokiest brew, and casually asked what that nice young man was doing after work. I handed him a couple of flyers and asked him to share with his co-workers, when one of them asked me "Are you the photographer?" And she said that she had read about me in the morning paper. At that time, I had yet to see the morning paper, which would be waiting for me at Metropolis. I knew I was going to be in it, but to what extent remained a mystery. The previous day, both a photographer and reporter spent time with me and overnight WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA'AM... a photo of me "in action" was not just above the fold - it was under the banner!!! This is as noticeable a placement as the headlines... only better... because its a color picture. Move over Kennedy's... my publicist can kick your publicist's butt.

Punk Rock as a headline in Amish country. Whoo Hoo! Hey Stiv - we did it. I sorta feel like Obama... yes we can; yes WE DID.

All day long, when I was finally doing my little site-seeing in Lancaster, and handing people flyers, they were saying "I read about you in the paper." Wow. Almost famous. Infamous, I know. Celebrated? Who knew?

Lancaster is an interesting town. Its a college town and it is the heart of Amish country. A great and wonderful thing about Lancaster's downtown -- there are almost NO CHAIN retailers! Yes, yes, Goodyear is a chain, but this is on the outside perimeter of the renovated downtown. There is a Dunkin Donuts, but their storefront fits in perfectly with the rest of the storefronts, and of course, there are banks such as Wachovia, Bank of America... but there's no landscape of garish neon making this town look like any other. I applaud that!

Additionally, it is fair and accurate to say that the revitalization of Lancaster's downtown scene can be attributed to Gallery Row. We know it is true, when the economy cannot support industry, both service and culture become the revenue stream. I'm hoping that the economy rebounds, but gets steered more by culture and service than say.... the war industry.

President James Buchanan is from Pennsylvania and died in Lancaster and the Masonic Lodge (#43 to be exact) where he and his fellow cabal of Masons did their thing is basically behind Metropolis Gallery. Fourteen US Presidents have admitted to being Masons - even the Skull & Bones men. Then I hear that ALL the Presidents have been Masons. Makes me wonder about Obama.

Can we get a punk rock secret society going? I'm not talking about the cult of the Germs burn... I'm talking about wielding power at "leader of the free world" level. Kind of. Really.

Another olde time tradition I experienced in Lancaster was their Farmers Market - the oldest continually running Farmers Market in the nation. Those of you who know me know that I'm all about buying directly from growers and supporting local farmers and businesses. This market obviously has a lot of Amish and Mennonite vendors, and I bought a $2 Amish cookbook. Then there's the Pennsylvania Dutch thing (they're Germans... Dutch for "Deutschland")-- if you saw the movie "Witness" (Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis), you'll know I really can't explain it - you have to be there. Suffice it to say, its a lifestyle that's the polar opposite of all I know.

But that's what is so wonderful about being able to travel - to experience lifestyles and places different from what you know and are familiar with.

The opening itself was amazing. Throughout the day, there was a steady stream of people stopping into the Gallery... it was about as cold as cold gets, and windy too... yet people were getting their culture on! I met a group of people who were not just punk fans but bonafide record collecting aficionados. Its pretty exciting to learn that all the trials and tribulations of your attempts to get on the map actually put you there.

At the opening, I autographed copies of The Germs "Forming" single and also a couple copies of Stiv Bators solo album "Disconnected." Someone even had a Pandoras "Hot Generation" single with autographs of all the band members. A completist, this man now has even the photographer's signature!


Frank Secich, Stiv Bators, Greg Shaw

Of the three men pictured above, two are from these parts (Frank, from PA and Stiv from Ohio) and one is from liberal, artsy, hipper than thou San Francisco (Greg). They are, however, three of the most important men in my punk rock life and career. Greg Shaw threw a lot of work my way, and Stiv the big brother I never had was the best photo subject you could dream of. Frank was then and continues to be the voice of reason.

In closing, there are many people to thank for this wonderful time... it all starts with Gregg Kostelich of Get Hip and The Cynics (Pittsburgh) who introduced me to the Gallery - Angelo and Lisa Madrigale. Fabulous people... and Angelo's brother Mike, who owns the record store (all vinyl!!) around the corner, Mr Suit, and Angelo & Mike's dad, Jerry, who lent me his apartment during my stay. Then there's the Jeffs - Breil and Royer. Without them... and without Debra Anderson, I'd be anonymous. Mike's girlfriend Amy pulled a favor and got me into the salon where she gets her hair cut so I could look good for my opening. She saved the day!