"When the first wave of punk hit the Bay Area, it signalled that the tired reign of the long-haried, hippie counterculture was coming to an end; in it's place were young, angry, shorn kids shouting about nihilism and death to corporate America with an energy you couldn't get by vibing with crystals. In the world of marginalized scenes, San Francisco provided space for the punks who never made it in the big three of New York, London, and Los Angeles. Ruby Ray, who shot photos for the legendary zine Search and Destroy, documented the disenfranchised punk world at exactly the right moment, capturing the rapid rise and fall of that initial wave; from the birth of the Dils before they ran off to Los Angeles to the death of the Sex Pistols when they crashed into the Bay.
Now, three and a half decades later, her photos are gaining newfound recognition among both the newly rebellious and the depressingly nostalgic. I came to check out her book signing in Oakland at Stranded Records, which was atteneded by Penelope Houston of the Avengers and John Doe of X. Although time has stripped the older punks of some of their energy and anger, their youthful selves live on in records and snapshots. Stranded was crowded by middle-aged white people with sagging tattoos, so to learn more about the woman behind the camera, I sat down with her at a gay bar across the street." (from an interview with Ruby Ray on Vice's Music column)
Below are some of the prints available at the show.
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| Screamers Paul Roessler and Tomata Du Plenty on Broadway, 1978 |
