Record

Reference Number (Click this to reveal full catalogue structure)SR
TitleSheila Rock Photographic Collection
Date1976-2014
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Extent9 boxes
DescriptionThe majority of this collection consists of photographs, negatives, contact sheets, digital photographs, and photographic slides taken by Sheila Rock of the 1970s and 1980s London punk scene, in addition to exhibition catalogues, clippings related to Sheila Rock, a wearable MP3 player badge as promotion for Punk+ featuring various Punk music, and a selection of other Punk+ photography badges. Many of the photographs featured in her 2013 PUNK + and other publications.

Subjects featured within the photography in this collection include: Billy Idol and Generation X; Subway Sect; The Damned; Rich Kids; Sham 69; John Lydon and Public Image Ltd.; Paul Weller and The Jam; Eater; The Stranglers; Siouxie Sioux; The Professionals; Poly Styrene; The Moors Murderers; The Bromley Contingent; The Buzzcocks; Blondie; The Cure; Vicious White Kids; Don Letts; New Hearts; The Cortinas; Jon Savage; Midge Ure; Roxy Music; Bauhaus; Motorhead; Gary Kemp and Spandau Ballet; Strawberry Switchblade; Richard Hell; The Ramones; Larry Blackmon and Cameo; The Alarm; Yellow Magic Orchestra; The Associates; Steve Jansen of Japan; Pete Wells and Angry Anderson of Rose Tattoo; Rockabilly; Anne Pigalle; The Photons; Then Jerico; Led Zeppelin; Brian Setzer and Stray Cats; Wilko Johnson; Television; and other photographs of Punk street fashion and the music scene.
AdminHistorySheila Rock is an American photographer who gained notoriety following her move to London in 1970 and subsequent work with The Face magazine. She is particularly known for her PUNK + (2013) publication which documented her time in the London punk scene and sparked following exhibitions in London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore. A second edition was published in 2020 titled YOUNG PUNKS.

Her other publications include: SERA (2003), a monograph on Tibetan monastic life which was followed by exhibitions in London, New York, Turin, and Berlin; TOUGH & TENDER (2015), a love letter to the English seaside, which was followed by a TOUGH & TENDER exhibition in Liverpool as part of the Look Photo Festival, and a subsequent Seascape showing in Berlin; 80S SOUND AND VISION (2022), which focused on club music and street style of the 1980s; and NEW ROMANTICS (2023), focusing on the London club scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Her work is also held in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.

In addition to publishing her own work, she has contributed to a number of diverse titles, including: German Vogue; Elle; Glamour; Architectural Digest; Sunday Times; Telegraph Magazine; Brides; Time Magazine; and Rolling Stones Magazine.
CustodialHistoryPurchased from Sheila Rock by LJMU Special Collections & Archives over two deposits in 2016 and 2020.
Related MaterialSheila Rock worked with and photographed a number of people related to collections held at LJMU Special Collections & Archives, such as Jon Savage and Poly Styrene. Other related counterculture collections held at LJMU SCA include: ED, the England's Dreaming Jon Savage collection of material related to the history of Punk in England; TJS and 1966JS, collections relating to Jon Savage's research for his respective publications Teenage: The Creation of Youth 1875-1945, and 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded; TP for the photographer Ted Polhemus' papers, including a full run of The Face magazine and Polhemus' photographic collection focusing on street style; BB, the papers of graphic designer Barney Bubbles, who designed album covers for many punk bands; EPF, the papers of the Liverpool-based underground Eric's Club and Pete Fulwell; IT, the International Times underground newspaper; FSXS, the Falcon Suart and X-Ray Spex papers related to Stuart's career as a music manager of the punk band among other artists; JN, Jeff Nuttall's My Own Mag magazine collection; NME for the New Musical Express (NME) magazines; OZ for the archive material related to the Oz Trial of 1971 concerning obscenity in the Oz underground Australian magazine; JMS for the John McCready Situationist International papers; and more.
AccessStatusOpen
AccessConditionsPlease contact archives@ljmu.ac.uk for all appointments and enquiries.
CreatorNameSheila Rock
LanguageEnglish
CreatorChristopher Olive, Assistant Archivist 2024 and George Pearson, MARM Placement Student 2025
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