Cynthia Connolly | Banned In DC: Photos and Anecdotes from the DC Punk Underground [Book]

Paperback issue containing photos and anecdotes of the DC Punk Underground, first published in 1988 as one of the first documents/books of the American punk scene. Featuring 450 photos of bands like Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Rites of Spring, Gray Matter, 9353, No Trend, Government Issue, Void, and many more.

6th Edition.

Sometimes being a Washington DC insider means access to political movers and shakers--sometimes, as in the case of photographer Cynthia Connolly, it means access to a great collection of photographs from the glory days of DC hardcore punk. Taken both by Connolly and an assortment of punk enthusiasts, BANNED IN DC is a set of vibrant shots that portray the anarchic spirit, pure energy, and camaraderie of the DC scene in a series of 450 black and white photographs. Major figures in the hardcore movement, like Dischord Records co-owner and then-Minor Threat member Ian MacKaye and Bad Brains vocalist HR, share space with naked musicians, ubiquitous scenesters, shaven-headed audience members, and riotous punks, in a freewheeling combination of pictures and quotes. Vividly capturing the scene's idealistic intensity, BANNED IN DC is an invaluable document of Washington hardcore's exuberance and aspirations.

Sourced, compiled and edited by Cynthia Connolly, Leslie Clague and Sharon Cheslow.

"To an outsider looking at this [book], the punks might look deranged, fascistic, riotous, dangerous - but to an insider, we were people who were trying to live freely & to the fullest. Most of us were barely surviving, the music was one of the only fun ways to make some extra bucks, to possibly escape from the deadend jobs." - Tom Warner