Live Punk Rock & Hardcore Photography

I went to the Dischord House in Washington, DC, in 2022 to photograph Ian MacKaye at the source: the home base where decades of DIY hardcore records were archived, pressed and mailed out by hand, long before the internet existed.

Photographing the man behind Minor Threat and Fugazi at that exact address meant stepping back and letting the house itself set the frame. This photo now hangs in the Punk Rock Museum's Washington, DC exhibit.

Glenn Danzig, Jerry Only, and Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, the original three-piece Misfits, reunited for the first time since 1983 at two 2016 Riot Fest shows, Denver on September 4 and Chicago on September 18, and this contact sheet pulls frames from both nights.

The whole crowd sang along to every song like they'd grown up on it, even after Danzig joked that every one of them was “another old one.” I edited these the same night, sitting on the ground with my laptop outside an ATM enclosure after hunting down a plug near the venue.

This live photo of Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness was taken during Surf City Blitz at Huntington State Beach on October 28, 2018, in front of a crowd of 40,000. Ness is on stage in his newsboy cap, with a rose tucked into the headstock of his sticker-covered goldtop Les Paul.

My own photography from that same festival weekend was also on exhibit at the beach that day.

Milo Aukerman, Stephen Egerton, Karl Alvarez, and Bill Stevenson tore through a thirty-plus song set at the Hollywood Palladium on October 1, 2016, in front of a backdrop with the entire setlist chalked out by hand, song titles like COFFEE and BIKEAGE and WHEN I GET OLD scrawled across the wall behind them.

Years later, when Bill signed this print, he asked how I'd gotten a handwritten setlist, since the band's own are usually typed; I'd picked this one up at the It's Not Dead festival earlier that year. I've owned my copy of “I Don't Want to Grow Up” on vinyl since I was thirteen, so nights like this one still feel like a big deal.

Photographed at the Hollywood Palladium in 2016 during the Yves Saint Laurent showcase, this image documents Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Joan Jett.

The first time I ever saw Davey Havok, I didn't know it: he came out and sang a song on a bootleg VHS of a Rancid show I watched as a kid, years before I connected the dots. By 14, I was fully in on AFI's run of “Black Sails in the Sunset,” “All Hallow's E.P.,” and “The Art of Drowning,” and it changed the direction of the music I've followed ever since.

This shot of Havok held up by the crowd at FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine, California, on September 30, 2018, during AFI's tour with Rise Against, now hangs on exhibit at the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas.

Dennis Lyxzén and the rest of Refused treat The Observatory in Santa Ana like a stage for an argument that has to be won, playing there on May 25, 2015, five weeks before their comeback album Freedom hit shelves.

I got into this band in 1998, at 13, off a Punk-O-Rama compilation from a record store I visited every summer as a kid, and I'd already caught their 2012 reunion shows at the Glass House in Pomona and the Warfield in San Francisco before I ever got this close with a camera. This was my first full pit access to shoot them, and the shot later went into my photo book Break Free.

Rancid was my gateway band. I got into them at 10 years old, when I swiped my older brother's copy of “...And Out Come the Wolves,” and by the time their self-titled 2000 album came out, this band had already pulled me one step further into hardcore.

This shot of Tim Armstrong lit up against a packed crowd at the Musink Festival, Orange County Fairgrounds, on March 20, 2015, is where that history and my camera finally met.

Photographed on May 26, 2018, at Punk Rock Bowling in Las Vegas, this image isolates Mike Muir ("Cyco Mike") fronting Venice crossover thrash icons...

This is Glenn Danzig and Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein sharing an unscripted second on stage at Riot Fest Denver, September 4, 2016, the night the original three-piece Misfits reunited for the first time in thirty-three years.

I pushed through a wall of people with a 5D Mark III and a fogged-up 70-200mm lens just to get close enough for this shot, and the entire crowd was singing along like it was still 1983. Getting this close to the band that night is one of the biggest core memories of my whole career.

Captured on June 7, 2015, at The Observatory in Santa Ana, this photo documents Matt Skiba during Alkaline Trio's Past Live tour.

Photographed on September 5, 2015, during the Burger A-Go-Go festival at The Observatory in Santa Ana, this stage-level capture documents Kathleen Hanna performing with...

This wide fisheye shot from Valley View Casino Center in San Diego catches At The Drive-In frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala mid-stretch at the mic, arms thrown wide, a fan of white spotlights firing out behind him like a solar flare.

It was October 17, 2018, and the El Paso band was out on tour with System of a Down and Skeletonwitch, twisting through the same kinetic, physical set that's defined them since the 90s.

Captured on April 7, 2019, at Sabroso Fest in Dana Point, California, this photograph isolates Milo Aukerman mid-vocal, complete with his signature water jug...

Captured under the desert sun at Punk Rock Bowling 2023, this frame documents Dave Vanian fronting UK punk pioneers The Damned.

This is Thursday's Geoff Rickly handing the mic straight into the crowd at Chain Reaction in Anaheim on November 18, 2018, letting a fan scream the next line back at him while he's still mid-note, eyes shut, completely gone.

The band played their 2001 album Full Collapse front to back that night for its anniversary, in the kind of small, packed room this confessional, cathartic record was always meant to be heard in.

Taken in September 2016 at Douglas Park in Chicago, this portrait isolates Glenn Danzig during the original Misfits reunion.

Photographed on June 29, 2017, at Aurea Vista in Riverside, California, this image documents Walter Schreifels performing with Youth of Today during the "REV30"...

Documented backstage at The Constellation Room on December 7, 2021, this photograph stands as the final portrait of San Diego grindcore group The Locust...

During their multi-night World Tour of Anaheim residency in January 2018, Saosin returned to Chain Reaction, the small Orange County venue where their career...

Photographed on January 31, 2015, at The Observatory in Santa Ana, California, this image captures Davey Havok fronting straight edge hardcore project XTRMST.

Photographed backstage at Douglas Park during Riot Fest Chicago on September 18, 2016, this candid portrait captures brothers Jerry Only and Doyle Wolfgang von...

Operating from 1996 to 2025 at 1652 W Lincoln Ave in Anaheim, California, Chain Reaction served as a foundational institution for Southern California's independent...

Documented inside the intimate confines of The Casbah in San Diego in 2016, this shot captures guitarist Ben Weinman and vocalist Greg Puciato during...

Taken inside the SST Records facility in Taylor, Texas, in 2013, this portrait documents Black Flag founder Greg Ginn alongside Mike Vallely during a...

Taken on May 29, 2017, at Punk Rock Bowling in Las Vegas, this photo isolates Keith "Monkey" Warren, lead vocalist for Ipswich, UK street punk band The Adicts.

Captured on November 5, 2014, at The Constellation Room in Santa Ana, California, this photo shows Geoff Rickly performing with the hardcore supergroup United...

Taken on May 5, 2013, during their annual Cinco de Mayo headline performance at The Observatory, this frame documents guitar player Steve Soto ("El...

Photographed on March 9, 2020, at 1720 in Los Angeles, this frame captures Dennis Lyxzén during Refused's final concert before the COVID-19 pandemic halted...

Photographed on May 11, 2022, at Alex's Bar in Long Beach, California, this image captures Thomas Barnett mid-air over the stage with guitarist Matt...

Taken outside Brick By Brick in San Diego in 2021 ahead of their performance with Death By Stereo, this portrait features the lineup of...

Documented at a last-minute residential backyard show in East Los Angeles in 2016, this frame captures original vocalist Jorge Herrera and guitarist Jake Casualty...

Photographed on location outside Club Dada in Dallas, Texas, in 2016, this street portrait captures Yeti Bones, theOGM, and drummer Brandon Pertzborn prior to...