Los Angeles Photographer Melanie Nissen’s ‘HARD + FAST’ Chronicles the Early Days of Punk
Direct from the archives, this article was originally published by Lethal Amounts Magazine on 25 February 2022 and is republished here with consent by the author featuring additional content.
Darby Crash (Germs) ad Exene Cervenka (X) on the cover of ‘HARD + FAST’ released February 2022, published by Blank Industries. Image: Melanie Nissen.
One of the most notable image-makers from the early days of punk, roughly from 1977-1980 in Los Angeles, was photographer Melanie Nissen. The images Nissen created are some of the most recognized portraits of the scene at that time, including the iconic photo of Exene Cervenka of X and Darby Crash of the Germs that adorns the cover of Nissen’s book HARD + FAST (2022), a collection of photographs chronicling her time documenting the Los Angeles punk scene. Nissen was best known for her photographs in Slash Magazine, which she co-founded with then-partner Steve Samiof after a fateful performance by The Damned at the Starwood in April 1977. With so much accomplished in such a short space of time, Nissen spoke with Lethal Amounts about her approach to photography, the images in HARD + FAST, and what made the Los Angeles punk scene so special. In a time that feels so far away from the days captured in Nissen’s book, these images serve as a reminder of Los Angeles as it was, in all of its hidden history, and of a time and spirit that we will likely never recapture.
Who were your influences as a photographer? Your work has been compared to that of Richard Avedon, a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. Do you see a connection there or to other photographers?
Melanie Nissen : Well, I wish I was Richard. I think it's probably about the photos that have that big black border around them. That was sort of ‘in style’ for a while. I had a dark room where I could use those borders and they looked really good, but I kind of associate that with him. The only other thing is that I love shooting against clean white. So that's another thing that he did. It's kind of isolating somebody's personality and body language, I liked all that. I admire him. I think he's a really good photographer.
“We live in a world of images. Images have replaced language, have replaced reading. The responsibility to your role in history in whatever is going to happen to human beings— you are the new writers and we can no longer be sloppy about what we do with a camera. You have this weapon in your hands, it’s a camera, and it is going to teach the world, it’s going to record the world, it is going to explain to the world and to the children that are coming what this world was like. It is an incredible responsibility.”
I do too. Avedon has said about the subject that the photos don't tell the truth, it's just catching a moment that’s telling a story, but it doesn't belong to either the photographer or the subject.
MN : It is just a moment. You catch somebody and that's the end of the moment. I don't think it's always the truth at all. I think photography can be very interpretive. I think it's true for that minute.
Stiv Bators and Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys. Image: Melanie Nissen.
Black Randy of Black Randy and the Metro Squad. Image: Melanie Nissen.
Devo. Image: Melanie Nissen.
Jennifer Miro of Nuns. Image: Melanie Nissen.
Why do you think there is interest in this era of punk/music history and Los Angeles in particular?
MN : Well, because in LA that was the very beginning. A lot of these photos are before bands even really played live or anything in LA. This was just starting. We had been reading about the English bands that were over in London and everything, and we hadn't seen anybody yet perform. I went out with my partner, Steve [Samiof], and we bought all the singles we could possibly find and buy and listened to them over and over again. I think this is a time that people don’t have that much stuff on the very, very beginning of punk and I think maybe I have stuff that other people don't.
The early punk scene in LA seemed to nurture many female creatives as well as showcasing diversity in the bands and artists at the time. What attributed to this more equitable community, at least in terms of the visibility for females to create alongside their male counterparts?
MN : I don't know but it was from the get-go. It was a really interesting period of time because everybody who was involved in it helped everybody else. There wasn't any weirdness. There wasn't any ego. It wasn't about money: nobody made any and nobody cared. I think it made everything pretty equal. What I noticed was the generosity of those years between artists and bands, that everybody was willing to help everybody. It was a very unique time. If you needed a photo for a single sleeve that a band was going to put out for itself, you would just give it to them and you wouldn't think twice about it, you'd be so happy to help. I think that was the consciousness. You’d see band members play with other bands if they needed help. So I never felt anything about being older or a woman or anything. I mean, I never felt one thing. I just felt that it was one of the most creative times I've ever been in and I don't think I'll see it again. I feel like I'm really lucky to have experienced that because I think the whole thing was very artistic and very creative in every way, the music, the fashion, and everything. I just think it was so idealistic for like, one minute, and I really appreciate that because life really isn't too much like that.
Tony Kinman of The Dils. Image: Melanie Nissen.
The Cramps. Image: Melanie Nissen.
Tommy Gear of The Screamers. Image: Meanie Nissen.
Tell us about your vision of the publication when you co-founded Slash Magazine with partner Steve Samiof.
MN : I think that the whole scene and what was happening in London was really exciting to us. We heard about it and read about it and everything. We were fascinated by everything and I think we wanted to just try and do a magazine that was kind of artful and interesting. I don't really think either one of us expected it to go anywhere. In fact, there were people who thought, when they first got the first issue of Slash with Dave Vanian on the cover, they thought it was a monster magazine, which I think is pretty funny because he looks like a vampire. I just think we wanted to do something creative together. I think that was part of it, that we really enjoyed working together and figuring out stuff together. I don't know if we had a big plan. I mean, I don't even know if we thought a second issue would happen. We worked really well together and we had a lot of fun doing it.
Dave Vanian on the cover of the first issue of Slash Magazine, May 1977. Image: Melanie Nissen.
“This publication was born out of curiosity and out of hope. Curiosity regarding what looks like a possible rebirth of true rebel music, hope in its eventual victory over the bland products professional pop stars have been feeding us. May the punks set this rat-infested industry on fire. It sure could use a little brightness!”
Captain Sensible of The Damned. Image: Meanie Nissen.
Dave Vanian of The Damned. Image: Meanie Nissen.
How do you view the legacy of Slash and your contribution to it?
MN : Well, I'm really glad it happened. I'm really glad that it existed and I'm really happy that I got to be part of it. I don’t know how I got to be part of it. It must have been in the cards for Steve and myself. Sometimes I think that we met just to do Slash Magazine. What I relate to is how other people feel about it. I think it's really hard for me to look at it as a legacy. I think I look at HARD + FAST as sort of like, “Oh, I got to do the last issue of Slash.” You know, and I'm thinking, “Oh, what fun.” I don't know if I ever thought about legacy, I think I hear it from other people but I don't know what to think about it.
Why are publications important? And to that end, why is your style of photography important?
MN : Everybody wanted to be in the magazine and everybody saw themselves in the magazine. It set a tone, I think, for the movement and the writing and for everything–not that other magazines didn't come and set their own tone, because they did and they were good, too. But Slash had its own tone. I'm not sure if there was any planning, the style of photography is just how I shoot. I never thought about it as, “Oh, I'm going to do this,” or “I'm going to do that.” It's just the way I work with people which is pretty loose. Nothing would be very pre-planned in the way I shoot. I mean, I think about stuff and I'll bring stuff to shoots but it's not like I think, “This is a shot.” So in a weird way it's very documentary. It's sort of like a time capsule. There's nothing that was really set up or contrived. Everybody did their own clothes or their own makeup, everything. I was just lucky enough to be there.
Do you have a favorite memory of a photo session or a particular photograph you shot? Why?
MN : Well, the first one with The Screamers is burned into my brain. It was at their house and one of the girls, Genny from Backstage Pass, was there and then another girl who they kind of were like the accessories or the models with The Screamers. I had never done anything with them before and I found them to be so creative and I love the way they looked, I loved their style. They were kind of game for anything. I wound up shooting them numerous times in all different settings in their house, on the street, and live. You know, I would have to say, it's probably The Screamers and The Weirdos.
Above: Tomato Du Plenty of The Screamers. Images: Meanie Nissen.
HARD + FAST looks back at a specific era, 1977-1980 in Los Angeles. What key differences do you observe between the punk community then versus now?
MN : Well, I get the feeling and I see it, that punk never dies. It just doesn't, it just gets reincarnated every couple of years in music and fashion and attitude. I mean, you'll see it, you see it come back all the time. You'll see it come back with baby bands and all of a sudden, you'll pick up a fashion magazine and there's dayglow pink and dayglow green with black and everything is that color. I really think it's never gonna go away. I just think it's here to stay and keeps evolving.
Who do you look to when you think of the current alternative community, in Los Angeles or beyond?
MN : Well, I know that X still plays and put a record out. I think maybe The Dils have played without Tony, but I think I’ve heard them on radio interviews, and I think they still play once in a while. When I first heard Fidlar I though they sounded like the baby Ramones. I thought, “Oh, how much fun!” I just liked their whole consciousness. I saw them live and they are really good live, too. So I'm sure there's a million other bands that I'm not familiar with. Peaches, [the artist] that lived in Germany and did sort of performance art and was very nasty. I remember when I heard her record–and I mean, it's not new now or anything–but I thought it so nasty and so good. She was pretty out there. I love her first record and I still listen to it, The Teaches of Peaches (2000). It was so dirty and good.
The Avengers. Image: Meanie Nissen.
The Bags. Image: Meanie Nissen.
Jane Wiedlin and Belinda Carlisle of Go-Go’s. Image: Melanie Nissen.
Exene Cervenka and John Doe of X. Image: Melanie Nissen.
What do you hope readers will come away with after viewing your collection in HARD + FAST?
MN : I hope they come away with the feeling of what it was like to be there, that they got enough atmosphere in the photos, enough live shots, and enough street shots that they come away with a sense of the feeling of the time of The Masque and of all the clubs and how everybody looked. It's become a kind of documentary to me. I'm glad this is sort of the end of my work as far as Slash goes. I've lost so much of it over the years. I hope they get the feeling for what it was like with the bands.
Melanie Nissen circa 1977. Image: Steve Samiof.
Grab a copy of HARD + FAST at the official website or Stranded Records.
