Punk Girls

Punk Girls is an authentic representation of the punk movement in its many guises with an important focus on the females that inhabit this world. Fashion, music and politics collide in this landmark publication by one of Australia’s most acclaimed female photographers. The images are inspired by and reference the iconic women of punk history, as embodied and re-enacted by those who channel the punk movement in contemporary daily life.

At the book’s core are more than 100 portraits photographed throughout Australia over the cours of five years on large format film on a custom-made 5x4” rangefinder Polaroid conversion camera. Many ofthese women were introduced to the author by social media or by answering a flyer calling for photographic subjects.

Additional imagery appears in the form of stylised fashion photographs featuring models Ollie Henderson, Georgia Fowler, Annabella Barber and Christina Carey, each playing to iconic female punk figures throughout history. Female punk bands, both on stage and off, and the surrounding artistic milieu are featured in the traditional practice of live music documentation.

“I want to demystify perceptions of women in punk and give a voice and recognition to an incredibly diverse and intersectional scene that has, over the last forty years since the birth of punk, evolved tobecome a very exciting place for women to feel active, supported and confident in pursuing theirfreedom to look and feel themselves,” Ham explains. The book features an introductory essay by artist Emma Price, of millennial performance collective The Kingpins, and an interview with the artistconducted by activist, model, radio producer and House of Riot founder Ollie Henderson.

Hardback 212pp
Manuscript Publishing
November 2017
ISBN: 9780648059813

Author: Liz Ham
Publisher: Mitchell Oakley Smith
Design: Al Goh and Marcus King