GRUNGE photographs by Michael Lavine

GRUNGE (2009) is a photography book by Michael Lavine. It’s an interesting little piece of history about Seattle teenage punks and the rise of grunge bands. 

Lavine was a high school graduate in the early 1980’s. He was interested to photography and was introduced to punk rock scene trough out his roommates. Michael started to shoot Seattle street punks. He happened to be in the right place at the right time and started to shoot underground bands. At late 80's he shoot band like Nirvana, Sonic Youth and Mudhoney.

The opening words by Thurson Moore is an interesting look back to the starting points of Lavins photographic career as well as look back to the history of grunge. These little notes from the opening words as well as the photography really showed the life and mode of Seattle at (home of Grunge) the late 80's and early 90's.

"You're a little bit lost and you're a little bit badass. You're gonna have to make your own fun, your own world, using your very own magic. But you are not alone."

"The kids were so uncool, they were beyond cool. They embared and reclaimed their high school deningration:Loser." Inspired me to create the consept Gereneration uncool.

"Kurt wore thrift-store hand-me-dons, worn-out parkas, beat-up sneakers, flannel shirts and jeans."

"What really matterd was to be able to stare back at the audience, the camera and his world, like a mirror challenging you to break it."

Michael Lavine end his book to the words that I think reflect the meaning of this book really well: "When the mainstream media attached the label "grunge'to our univese a collective cringe of horror howled out from everyone who was branded.But looking back now it's kind of amazing how I started out as just a kid with a camera in the middle of nowhere and ended up with the honour of witness and document such an important and powerful piece of rock history."