The Beautiful & the Damned: Punk Photographs of Ann Summa

Los Angeles-based photographer Ann Summa has a new book, The Beautiful & the Damned: Punk Photographs of Ann Summa. It's a document of the LA punk scene circa 1978-84, with over 150 photographs, many of them never seen before. In addition to photos of seminal LA bands like the Germs, the Screamers, and X, there are plenty of photographs of the punk scene. And there a lot of portraits of musicians who played in LA, like the Clash, Pretenders, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop, and many more.

Summa is one of our favorite photographers, and the new book shows off her early, gritty, black and white punk photographer days to brilliant effect. These are raw, artful images with impact and passion. We've got a soft spot for anything about early punk, and this book is simply a great document of that period.

There's a book release party on Friday, October 8 (that's tonight!), from 5-7pm at Bookmarc at 400 Bleecker Street. As an added bonus, Exene Cervenka will be performing at 6.30 (she also wrote the forward to Summa's book).

Johanna Went, performance artist, Whisky A Go Go, March 1982.

Exene Cervenka of X at the Masque, Hollywood, 1979.

Dinah Cancer of 45 Grave, taking a stroll through the Hollywood Cemetary, April 29, 1982. She was also in the bands Castration Squad and Penis Flytrap.

Joe Strummer of the Clash, circa 1980.


The Beautiful & the Damned was designed by Lorraine Wild. There's a nifty website for the book, designed by Nan Oshin and Liz Hale of OH5 Design.

Read The Los Angeles Times story about The Beautiful & the Damned here.