Monday, July 30, 2018

School of Life Monday:
The Children of Snobs


It can be deeply painful to be the child of snobs. That is, to be someone who received a kind of love in our formative years that was heavily dependent on our performance, not on our essence. It can be enough to make a mess of our lives, unless we realise - and get on top of - the dynamics.

FURTHER READING “Given how pejorative the term is, we’re understandably keen to locate snobs somewhere far from us. They are the people in the newspaper, or the ones who live in the other part of town or went to the school we didn’t go to – but it’s nice not to imagine them too near to home. Yet that’s to deny an obvious eventuality: snobs may lie closer to us. Snobs form couples; they have children. And we might be among them. However painful the unvarnished thought, we might be the children of snobs. It’s a situation it can be therapeutic to face up to and to try to make sense of…” You can read more on this and other subjects on our blog, here: https://goo.gl/cgQRoM

Sunday, July 29, 2018

1981 Photo of Me Skating by C.R.Stecyk III
from my IG act.


Yes that's me, glen, bank skating in 1981. This photograph was made by my good friend, and mentor of sorts, Craig Stecyk @crstecykiii at some remote schoolyard he took me to that i had never seen before. I needed a photo of myself for some book that asked me for a portrait. So i called Craig and asked the favor if he would honor me. CRS just asked me to bring a roll of film, after we finished the roll he popped it out of his camera, put it in its little black and gray plastic canister and just tossed it to me. He didn't need nor care, I don't think to see them. i asked him for a photo and i guess he knew he got it and just gave it to me to process, print and do as i needed. Simple. I know no one like him. If I could ever consider anyone a mentor it'd be him. The Godfather of skateboarding culture, period. Six months later he called and asked if I'd send one of my favorites up to Thrasher, he wrote an article he wanted me to be a part of, "Really? A photo of me IN one of your skate articles? Really?" I was fucking stoked! #pure #inspiration #artist #photographyAsArt #respect #SkateBoarderMagazine #theBible #punk #attitude #integrity #DIY #MyRules #FuckYouHeroes #blackANDwhite #BadAss #BankSkating #Bertleman #Bert #style #DoWhatYouLove #KeepItReal #thrashermagazine #photographersthatskate

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Thursday, July 26, 2018

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Fugazi in Washington DC 30 years ago
on my instagram


Shout out to WASHINGTON DC in the snow! FUGAZI posing for a shot they really did not want to do. circa 1989 ... By this time i was all about FUGAZI they were becoming an all time favorite. So we did this session walking around town and made a great bunch of photographs this day which you can see in several of my books. This one appears up front in my book "KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN - The Fugazi photographs of glen E. Friedman" with an essay by Ian F Svenonious - From their first year, to the last show played on US soil with all different types of photography experiments of light, texture, film stocks, techniques, clearly one of my favorites and best. Shooting good friends for no outlet to share in mind, just for the sake of capturing and portraying something that i knew was special, fantastic, groundbreaking and inspiring. There are some great FUGAZI photographs in MY RULES , but the reason there are not a ton more is becuase of this entire book devoted only to them. If you are a Fugazi fan there is no reason you shouldn't have or Love it. "Maybe the best visual of a single band ever" someone said. #FUGAZI #brendancanty #joelally #guypicciotto #ianMackaye @dischordrecords #integrity #idealism #inspiration #punk #WashingtonDC #photography #ianFsvenonius #GetTheNewBook @chainandthegang

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Monday, July 23, 2018

School of Life Monday:
One Reason Homes Cost So Much

Very high house prices aren’t an act of God or a fact of nature. They’re the result of all sorts of policy and design mistakes – which we should try to understand and correct.


Saturday, July 21, 2018

Fat Boys are Back
on my Instagram


The FAT BOYS circa 1985, somewhere in Hollywood on the set of a morning show of some kind. After shooting Beastie Boys, then UTFO, I think the Fat Boys were the next group i had an opportunity to make photos with. Sure they were a bit of a gimmick, but these guys were actually really talented. I saw them get on a shitty mic at a Roller Rink in South Central L.A. one evening, a mic that was so bad it could barely amplify a voice it was so whack and crackly (worse than a distorted style Beastie Boys mic from CYH) that when they were rapping not half the words could be made out. BUT when "Buffy", aka "Buff Love", aka "The Human Beat Box", "Kool Rock-Ski", and "Prince Markie Dee" started beat boxing and passing the one mike around or huddled all together around the one mic, it gave new meaning to "rockin' the house" , it was one of the top ten hip hop moments I ever witnessed, being my first time to a south central roller rink and literally being the only white person there while this whole place (over a thousand kids) started rockin' in unison was a mind blowing cultural experience that i'd never forget. I had my camera, but i believe it was so dark in there i couldn't even see well enough through the camera's view finder to focus and take a photo, so i just laid in the cut and observed the proceedings, it was a great and exciting time, by the time we left (i did come with them i believe) everyone was worn out and sweaty... Probably made this photo with them the next morning, they were in L.A. For a few days and i travelled with them for most of it, i got some other images if i find i will post over time. #hiphop #culture #hiphopbeginnings #southcentral #LA #FatBoys #HumanBeatBox #NewYorkCulture #RapMusic #theDisco3 #FatBoysAreBack #

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Monday, July 16, 2018

School of Life Monday:
The Problem of Fame

It sounds so nice to be famous - from afar. But from closer up, there might be a range of problems that make anonymity preferable. This is a film for recovering fame addicts (there are quite a few of us out there...).

Monday, July 9, 2018

School of Life Monday:
Why You Can Change The World

Though it looks like the world is set in its ways, it is in fact eminently open to change by those who dare to swim into the stream of history.

Thursday, July 5, 2018

We Are In Trouble




Flying an American flag upside down is not necessarily meant as political protest. The practice has its origin in a distress signal; displaying a flag in this manner is "a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property"; It can also be viewed as an act of desecration.

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Adolescents Steve Soto R.I.P.
story from my instagram



(These two images above are the only two I made of Steve Soto when we did the photos for the Adolescents 1st album cover)

the ADOLESCENTS - Tony B. (Cadena) and STEVE SOTO when you swipe. The photo of Tony is at one of their very first shows, it was in a bowl at the Marina Del Rey skatepark, you can even see the TurningPoint ramp in the background. They were one of the great bands to first emerge from Orange County, certaily NOT where they wanted to be from, and that angst came out incredibly in most of their songs. When i heard their first demo on “RODNEY on the ROQ” i was blown away. It was at least five or eight songs and Rodney would play the tape all the way through at once (i wish i could find THAT exact tape he would play - the one released is NOT the same, it’s missing WORD ATTACK). After i heard that they were working on an album i reached out to Lisa Fancher at FRONTIER Records who was putting out the LP, i told here i had amazing photos of the band that should be used on the LP, she loved what i had and asked me/hired me to shoot a band photo for the back cover! My first LP cover, i was 18. Well getting that group photo would not be easy or even possible that night after the Black Flag show they opened. Casey the drummer was wearing a swasitka spray painted on his red turtleneck (pure shock value, nothing else) Tony was so disgusted he refused to pose with him, so i had to make individual portraits of each of them and hope Lisa would go for it, she and everyone loved them, more personality in the individual photos. Sadly STEVE SOTO one of the original members of the ADOLESCENTS passed over the weekend. I dug through my old proof sheets to scan this photo from that 1st LP shoot, only one or two frames of each guy, maybe a couple more of Tony. I was hanging out with Tony back in May, he’s really an incredible person. Besides still doing the band thing every once in a while he’s a school teacher. (The most noble profession!) #Adolescents #SteveSotoRIP #WordAttack #KidsoftheBlackHole #PunkRock #OC #WreckingCrew #Frontier #TonyCadena #MarinaSkatepark #MarkAlva #SlamDancing #inspiration #integrity #Abandoned #1980

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Tuesday, July 3, 2018

‘A NEW PARADIGM FOR FEMALES’: THE SLITS SMASHED EXPECTATIONS AND HAD FUN DOING IT
(a Dangerous Minds premiere)

from Dangerous Minds:


Formed in 1976, the Slits were one of the earliest all-female punk bands—if not the first. The fantastic, feature-length documentary on the group, Here to Be Heard: The Story of the Slits, was recently released in theatres. It’s about to come out on DVD, and we’re happy to say we have our favorite segment from the doc to share with you.



Here to Be Heard combines archival clips with new interviews of the surviving band members and notable admirers to tell the story of the Slits. The segment that’s getting its web premiere here features exciting early live footage and a spunky band interview excerpt. There’s also a look at how the Slits was covered in the media, and the ways Londoners reacted to a group of females who were smashing societal expectations on how young women presented themselves. As punk journalist Vivien Goldman puts it, “They were provocative, they were outrageous, but also they were having fun,” and doing it all on their own terms.



July 6 is the date Here to Be Heard: The Story of the Slits will be released on DVD, which will include 20 minutes of bonus content. Pre-order your copy through MVD or get it on Amazon.





Monday, July 2, 2018

School of Life Monday:
First World Problems

Many issues are nowadays dismissed as mere 'first world problems'. But the problems of the first world are deeply important and need to get addressed - as the whole planet will eventually have them.