Nothing to lose. The Punk Photographs of Caroline Coon
"Would the next generation be as angry as I was? In 1976, I saw the Sex Pistols perform their second gig and immediately I recognised a galvanizing new expression of sub-cultural revolt."
Caroline Coon
The Photography Sales Gallery at the Centre for British Photography is pleased to present Nothing to Lose. The Punk Photographs of Caroline Coon. This is the very first time that Caroline Coon’s celebrated punk photographs have been editioned.
The artist, Caroline Coon, was part of the early Punk scene and the author of one of the first books on Punk, 1988: The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion (1977). Her photographs are an important, intimate record of its heady early days. As she has explained:
“In 1976, I saw the Sex Pistols perform their second gig and immediately I recognised a galvanizing new expression of sub-cultural revolt. The national press was critical and the music press didn’t want to know. The music critic of The Sunday Times pronounced punk “the latest musical garbage… Punk will fade… its apologists are ludicrous… when it dies it will not be mourned”. But I knew it was necessary to record what was happening. Urgently I upgraded the Kodak Instamatic I used for my painting to a Nikon F2 SLR. As the early days of the dramatic punk scene evolved - created by bands like the Sex Pistols, The Clash, the Damned and the Slits - I photographed and interviewed musicians and fans.”
The exhibition marks the publication of three special limited edition boxed sets of Coons photographs:
Each box contains 10 photographs and each is in a limited edition of just 10 copies.
All profits from sales of these pictures will go the Centre for British Photography (registered charity number 1190955)
Caroline Coon’s punk photographs are also featured in the new exhibition Women in Revolt! Art, Activism and the Women’s movement in the UK 1970 - 1990, Tate Britain, 8 November 2023 – 7 April 2024.
To purchase works please consult: saray@britishphotography.org