“It wasn’t just about the bands; I documented the whole scene, particularly the fans. The fans were often as intriguing a subject as the bands themselves. They would frequently end up fronting a band themselves a week or so later.”
– Janette Beckman on British punks
Janette Beckman was there in punk’s early years in the UK. The British photographer worked at the magazines Sounds, The Face and Melody Maker, sharing pictures of The Clash on tour, The Sex Pistols in a skip and The Specials on Southend pier, Essex. And she turned the camera on the fans.
Punk was above all an “irrepressible attitude,” says Beckman. “It was about change, the idea that people should question authority and do it for themselves.” Times have changed. People were really happy to be photographed back then,” she says. “As it didn’t happen very often.”
“I met these Ska girls hanging out on a bench. I asked them to pose for me and they immediately did this stance—echoing The Madness’s album cover for One Step Beyond. Obviously huge ska, 2 Tone fans, they are perfectly styled with suspenders, the right jeans, and Fred Perry shirts.”
– Janette Beckman
“In February 1980 over 1000 punks, mods, and skinheads marched from Sloane Square to Hyde Park to commemorate Sid Vicious’s death the year before. I was covering the event for Melody Maker. All the punks had turned out in their finest gear to honor Sid. People were wearing black armbands and there was a general air of…perhaps punk was on the wain as the Sex Pistols were no more.”
– Janette Beckman
“These young kids were at a festival in Coventry, in 1980 waiting for The Specials to go on. They are wearing their best Harrington Jackets and trainers. Mod style and lots of attitude.”
– Janette Beckman
“[It was] unusual to see a black punk in Coventry 1980. I stopped him and asked to take a photo. The bondage trousers, boots, and jacket are perfect.”
“Two skinheads on the street in Coventry. One on the left in a Harrington jacket and [one] on the right wearing a classic Crombie coat. The 2 Tone ska pin says they were probably there to see The Specials, who were playing later that day.”
“Young punk girl – [she’s] so beautiful in her Sex Pistols shirt, dog collar, safety pin earring, and the look in her eyes. This was shot at the Sid Vicious memorial march.”
“Every Saturday afternoon, punks and skins would hang out on Kings Road on these particular benches by the town hall, drinking beer, sometimes shouting at the passers-by. Years before street style became a thing, punks, skins, mods, and rockabilly kids would parade up and down Kings Road on a Saturday in spiked hair, Doc Martens, acid wash jeans. Maybe they would pop into Vivienne Westwood’s shop to nick a t-shirt.”
“China Doll painting, hand-done on the back of his jacket to honor Sid. The swastika, the Anarchy sign just right. And his friend with the padlock and chain and badges. The march was an enormous outpouring for the loss of Sid, he was an iconic figure in the punk world and his death meant the end of the Pistols and, to a certain extent, punk as we knew it.”
“This photo says so much about Sid, and the don’t-give-a-fuck attitude. ‘Belsen Was a Gas’ is a song supposedly written by Sid Vicious—designed to offend the older generation, which it did. John Lydon later said, ‘[the song] was a very nasty, silly little thing…that should have ended up on the cutting room floor.’”
Buy the book at Cafe Royal.
Janette Beckman has published four books: Made in the UK, Music of Attitude 1977-1982, The Breaks Stylin and Profilin’1982-1990, El Hoyo Maravilla and in 2018 The MashUp a collection of her Hip Hop photographs reinterpreted by legendary graffiti artists.
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