'Xavier', from Niall O'Brien's 'Good Rats' exhibition
Purists would have it that punk rock was but a brief explosion in first New York then London, and was all but spent by the end of 1977. Irish photographer Niall O'Brien, however, was born in 1979 and has no truck with purism. Instead, taking the role of anthropologist for his exhibition Good Rats, he has befriended and spent time with groups of young punks, from skaters in Kingston-upon-Thames to homeless teens in Berlin and Tel Aviv, and documented the noise, chaos and sense of belonging that comes with the subculture more than three decades on from its inception. Click on the images below to view his work.
- Israeli Punks
- Petrol Station, Tim
- Punk BBQ i
- Punk BBQ ii
- Speed
- Bridge, Luke
- Luke - KBC
- Tim and Ash - Whiskey
Good Rats
runs from 1 February to 11 March at the Art Work Space gallery in London W2.
