Punk London: Visible Girls get their first official outing since the 1980’s.
This month, a very exuberant evening at London’s world famous 100 Club marked the start of a year-long celebration of one of Britain’s most notorious subcultures.
Punk London – 12 months of events, gigs, talks and exhibitions – salutes Britain’s home-grown brand of rebellious creativity.
Anita’s ‘Visible Girls’ series captured young girls taking their first steps into the exploration of their identity as mods, New Romantics and of course, punks back in the ‘80s. A selection of these photographs are to be showcased this June as part of the ‘Punk Weekender’ at The Photographers’ Gallery.
“Punk threw everything up in the air and allowed the youth to create it’s own way of being”, remembers Anita. “It wasn’t just about art and artists, this was mainstream self-expression in response to what was going on politically at the time. “It was an opportunity. It was an exciting experiment. You could do things that were outrageous – and was simply the development of youth. I loved seeing the young people out on the streets, expressing themselves in a way that was completely different from their parents.
“When I went to the King’s Road to Beaufort Street market, it was all about us. As a generation it really felt as if we were creating something new. And punk has been the catalyst for so many artists since then because with punk, anything goes.”
Punk London events run from now until the end of 2016.
You can see Anita’s images at The Photographers’ Gallery from 23-26 June.
