Georgetown Independent

Issue date: 2/28/07 Section: Arts and Entertainment

All of the photos are taped to the walls with masking tape. There are no frames, just black and white prints against the blank walls. The lack of formality is fitting. These photographs in the exhibit "Punk Love," showing until March 3rd at the Govinda Gallery, were taken by Susie Horgan in 1981. They document DC's energetic punk scene, specifically the lives of Henry Rollins and Ian Mackaye, the principle members of the band Minor Threat. 1981 was the "breakthrough year for DC punk," according to Chris Murray, the owner of the Govinda Gallery. Minor Threat released its first album the same year.

The Wilson Center, the 9:30 Club and other rock clubs in the DC area were epicenters of the punk movement in the 1980s. With its grating sound and harsh lyrics, punk music typified the underground anti-establishment sentiments of '80s youth.

Horgan's photos get right to the gritty core of the movement. Except for the portrait of the stressed-out owner of the 9:30 Club, her subjects are all young, mostly male and as gritty and full of energy as punk music itself. Shaved heads, chain belts, torn jeans and t-shirts and scuffed leather boots are ubiquitous, as is the grime and dirt that finds a home in the clubs.

The show assumes no prior knowledge of punk. The energy of the club scene is palpable, and Horgan takes the viewer right onto the stage and into the crowd. These are photos from the inside.

Just as the viewer can get close to the punk scene, the crowds that Horgan documents are sometimes indistinguishable from the bands. In "Henry Rollins, from Behind II," Rollins is kneeling on the stage, his face contorted with the raw energy of his lyrics, as the crowd converges around him with the same passion of feeling. The emotions on the faces are pure and spontaneous.

Horgan's photography development techniques mirror the movement itself. There are spots on the prints, betraying dirty negatives, which correspond perfectly with the grimy grease spots on all the clothes, rugs and floors. Horgan uses stark contrast for the energetic club photos and softer contrast for the more mellow personal shots of the band members outside the clubs. The techniques are not perfect. Some spots are under or overexposed, but this only adds to the general atmosphere of youth and rawness.

Just as interesting as the inside view of the club scene is the look into Rollins' and MacKaye's other lives. Horgan also worked with Mackaye and Rollins at the Haägen Dazs in Georgetown. It is impossible not to notice the irony of Rollins' Haägen Dazs t-shirt and hat when those photos are juxtaposed with those of him in leather boots and a ripped t-shirt on stage.

One of the leaders of an anti-establishment movement was making a living at a major commercial establishment in an upscale neighborhood. Horgan's portrayal of Rollins' goofy antics brings the viewer even closer to her subjects.

Georgetown itself is well represented in the show. One of the photos shows a band member wearing a Georgetown t-shirt because, Murray explained, he attended Georgetown Day School. In fact, the line "wherever we may roam, Georgetown is my home" is in one of Minor Threat's songs. This association of rebellious punk with an upscale education further adds to the irony of the show.

Not all of the pictures are so lively, like "Alec MacKaye Asleep." Alec, Ian's brother, is seated on a grimy set of carpeted steps, with his head resting on his knees. The stark contrast from the bright flash and the dark shadow makes the shot even more affecting. Only someone very close to the band could show the softer side of the punk scene.

Murray, a Georgetown graduate of the class of 1969, said of the DC punk scene that "I felt like I missed out on it originally and now I'm getting back into it." Wandering around the gallery, peering into the lives of these strangely dressed and impassioned individuals, it is hard for a fellow college student to ignore the underlying rebelliousness of his or her own generation peering right back out.

Govinda Gallery 1227 34th St; 202-333-1180