I remember drinking a beer with Jonathan Postal last September, shortly after the death of author, poet and occasional recording artist Jim Carroll who recorded “All the People Who Died” knowing it would probably be played at his funeral. Postal, who had recently helped me with a project about would-be wrestlers in West Memphis, was feeling particularly mortal that night. In the 1970’s he had photographed the leading lights of both the New York and LA punk scene and his peer group was starting to drop like flies. That’s the first time I heard him float the idea of a photo exhibit inspired by Carroll’s song. Now that passing notion is an actual exhibit that modern music fans won’t want to miss. But don’t take my word for it, click the video below to check out some examples of Postal’s appropriately gritty punk pics.
“All the People who Died,” which opens at the Jack Robinson Gallery on Friday, June 4 and runs through July 19, doesn’t just include shots from Postal’s punk days. It also includes artists as diverse as Alex Chilton and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
