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Photographic Gallery: Niall O'Brien, Art Work Space

Good Rats: the faces of modern punk go on show

by Jasper ReesMonday, 1 February 2010

'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.

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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.

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