My Punk Rock Life: The Photography of Marla Watson (Earth Island Books) - Ox Fanzine #171, review by Joachim Hiller.
"An observation on my part without being substantiated by reliable figures: At the beginning of punk rock there were considerably more men than women on stage, but the female share among the people with cameras in front of the stage was considerably higher. Marla Feldman from the ‘Valley’, from the greater Los Angeles area, was born in 1962 and discovered punk rock at the end of the seventies. 1982 saw the first issue of their fanzine Skank, and with a self-made press card, she went to interview bands and photograph them. Fast forward to the recent past: Marla (today: Watson) finds a box with the old band photos from the attic, scans them, puts them on her social media profile and finds the power for this book. Her photos are almost all ‘close-up’, not always ‘high-gloss material’, but as many of us once photographed, with analogue methods, and hope that something sharp came out. You’d photograph the audience, the parking lot, etc. In her book THE CLASH, THE MISFITS, THE DAMNED, CRUCIFIX, BAD RELIGION, SOCIAL DISTORTION, DEAD KENNEDYS, BLACK FLAG, DESCENDENTS and umpteen others, and there's also remembrance texts of that time, by her and many companions. All the coherent black and white pictures emerged of what it was like to be in to be young and punk in L.A. at that time. Well done. I notice that there are not only bands to be seen, but also, all the trappings, like a chapter on the bulls of L.A., which was interesting for the punks at the time. This is an exciting, contemporary document, far beyond promo-photos."
More photos can be found at: https://mypunkrocklife.com
Hardcover and paperback prints of the book at: https://www.earthislandbooks.com
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