A Flash Back to New Wave

Blondie Co-founder, Chris Stein’s Photographs Take Us Back to The Birth of The Punk Scene

Their unique sound, with its eclectic blend of punk, dance, and hip-hop, shot 70s band Blondie into icon status. After selling more than 40 million albums worldwide, they are now celebrating their 40th anniversary.

Songwriter, guitarist, Blondie co-founder, and acclaimed photographer Chris Stein, captured Blondie in intimate and public moments, producing some of the first images that fans ever saw of the band, as well as the pictures that established Deborah Harry as a fashion symbol.

In celebration of their anniversary, Chris Stein is releasing a collection of images, in book form, and subsequently in an exhibition at the Somerset house in London, UK; both titled Chris Stein/Negative: Me, Blondie and The Advent of Punk. Many of the images included are unseen and provide a behind the scenes look on life in the trailblazing band, from their underground early days to global sell-out shows.

Included in the collection are also other icons of the 70s and 80s new wave world; Andy Warhol, David Bowie, the Ramones, Iggy Pop, the Sex Pistols, as well as bands like the Voidoids, the New York Dolls, and the Avengers.

Chris Stein/Negative: Me, Blondie and The Advent of Punk, by Chris Stein with contributions from Deborah Harry and Glenn O’Brien, is priced at £35 and will be available on site from Somerset House’s Rizzoli bookshop.