These Photographers Captured Blondie, Joan Jett, and the Women of Punk

Brad Elterman, Joan Jett, Milk Gallery, 1978

With the coolly delivered words “Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine,” Patti Smith burst onto the music scene, shattering any pretense that she was just another “girl in a band.” This declaration, the opening line to her 1975 debut album, Horses, epitomized the subversive power that came to define punk rock. Though the tough punk-rocker stereotype may bring to mind male artists like Johnny Rotten and Joey Ramone, women like Debbie Harry, Joan Jett, and Siouxsie Sioux stood at the helm of the movement, holding their own against their male counterparts. Aside from the musicians, female fans also found that punk’s freedom of expression extended beyond the stage, providing them with a platform to let their own voices be heard.

But more than just a sound, punk rock had a look. In the punk scene of the 1970s and ’80s, both onstage and off, style was just as important as which bands you went to see. Attitude was the greatest accessory. Amid the sea of leather jackets and tight pants, the punk aesthetic was captured by daring photographers along for the ride. Here are a few who saw it all.

Debbie Harry on punk, refusing to retire and sex at 69

Forty years after Blondie found fame on the New York scene, Debbie Harry is still waving the flag for women in the music business – of every age 

Debbie Harry at 69: 'You have to keep new influences coming in' Photo: MIKE MCGREGOR

In 1980, during a tour with Blondie, Debbie Harry hosted a tea party at a London hotel, gathering together many of the women prominent in music at the time. Chrissie Hynde was there; Siouxsie Sioux; the Slits guitarist Viv Albertine; Pauline Black from The Selecter; and Poly Styrene from X-Ray Spex. Chris Stein, Harry’s boyfriend at the time as well as the other half of Blondie’s creative core, published pictures of it in his recent book Negative, a collection of his photographs from the early years of their fame.

It looks as though there was a lot of laughter. This was a different time for women in music. Two years earlier Kate Bush, who was invited to tea but didn’t make it, had become the first female solo performer to reach number one in the British charts with her own song (Wuthering Heights).

There was a widespread assumption that there was room for just one main female performer in each genre. If another appeared, they were expected to battle it out for the title of queen of pop/soul/disco/punk.