Photographer Interview: Christine Boarts Larson
A Few Words With An Absolute Legend...
First A Few Thoughts
I didn’t know Alexa Poli but I knew her. I knew her face from countless images in zines, online, and on records - I mean she was one of the Warzone Women and ever present. I knew her reputation, and the sort of hardcore punk woman archetype she represented. Hard as nails, funny, sensitive, but taking no bullshit ever. She was important. And she will be missed.
I spend a lot of time thinking about the way photography helps to shape our vision of the world - how it helps to create visions of places and of people we may never experience. I’ve spent hours staring at grainy photographs of people, bands, spaces, and cities I may never encounter. I’ve drained hours upon hours of my life day dreaming of what it was like to be in the room when Minor Threat tore through the 930 Club, Agnostic Front played A7, Nausea at C Squat, and so on and so on… memorizing faces - their expressions of joy, angst, rage, and ecstasy as waves of sound ripple over them, lyrics connect with them, and when that moment of shared connection is captured..
It’s why I’m always so quick to jump in and be defensive when it comes to criticism of photographers at shows - no rules is the first rule, and everyone’s perspective is important but more importantly these moments are important to capture, to inspire, and to help foster the future of underground culture as well as document our lives so they aren’t forgotten.
Photographer Interview: Christine Boarts Larson
I first encountered Chris Boarts Larson through both her legendary zine Slug & Lettuce over 30 years ago, as well as her images of the Lower East Side squat punk scene which would show up in the pages of fanzines and the inserts of records. Her images, in stark black & white painted a poignant image of wild punk rockers creating their own world and taking charge of their own life. Chris’ work remains an inspiration to me as does her continued enthusiasm for this thing we’ve dedicated our lives to called punk. I’m honored to call her my friend. Check out her current work here
How did you get into punk?
I found my way to punk through via 80s new wave and then through artistic avenues. My interest in punk and photography go hand in hand. I got into both in the mid 80s when I was a teenager. There was a pretty good active local scene in State College PA where I grew up. I was drawn to the artistic expression and individuality and the “I don’t want to be like everyone else” attitude. There were local bands that I started to pay attention to, which led me to reading zines and ordering zines in the mail. I started to write to people and had pen-pals. Around 1986-1987 there were some folks at Penn State that started having regular shows at Finley Hall including the likes of Agnostic Front, Dr Know, Half Life, COC, Descendents to name just a few and that was pretty cool. By the time that season of shows came around, I had already started my zine and was already taking photos which was my way of participating “in the scene”.
How did you get into photography?
Both of my parents were amateur photographers. My father had been a high-school year book type guy, and my mom was the one with a manual SLR camera taking photos my whole life. My Grandfather had a Leica and used to travel across the country with the family and take hundreds of photos. Decades later when I inherited the basement of slides, I realized that most of them were really not very good. But none the less, as long as I can remember my family was taking photos, documenting family and travel, sharing slide shows in the basement, and putting together photo albums. A cabinet with camera parts was just a part of my life. When I was really young I remember my dad giving me a 110 camera to use and I shot my first roll of film. In middle school I had a camera and photographed my friends and everything that I did. As an early teen I decided I wanted to take it a step further and I got my mom to teach me how to use the Minolta 201 SLR. I got a roll of black and white film and went down to the wall where all the art kids, heshers and punks hung out and took photos of them. That’s how it all started. I started to take photos at shows. Early on a friend gave me the best advice: listen for the moment. In other words listen for when the action will come to take the shot. Sounds obvious enough, but it is at the heart of the crucial moment philosophy. Next thing I know I was taking photography classes at school, doing independent study classes in the darkroom in high school, and my dad ever the supporter and champion of my interests helped me build a darkroom at home in our basement and put to use all his knowledge and experience and I never stopped.
Do you should film, digital or a mix? Do you have a preference and why?
I was a film loyalist long past the beginning of the digital age. I LOVE film and I love the darkroom. I love the magic of photography and there is nothing like watching the images appear on the paper in a tray under red lights. I did that for a good 20 plus years, but I did eventually get a digital SLR and I can admit that once I fully transitioned, I have not gone back to film. I still LOVE the darkroom. But I do NOT love the chemicals. And I very much love the ease of editing and narrowing in on what I’m after that I can do digitally, both in the camera on the spot, and afterwards. It’s near impossible to imagine the expense of film, photo paper and darkroom supplies now. Man, was so expensive. I love that I can now shoot 500 photos without a care. And yet… AND YET — I am SOOOO very thankful that I learned the process of choosing my shots carefully with the scarcity and preciousness of film. I learned how to shoot with film and I learned how to print in a darkroom. For me, both of those foundations are very much a part of my process and I would not trade or change that for anything. But now, today, I love to be able to shoot hundreds of shots and just shoot shoot shoot and then edit and pick and choose what I like best. I was always much more of a documentary straight shooter photographer, in that I taught myself to compose the photo that I wanted in the camera and not to a lot of post editing cropping and manipulation. That foundation still holds true, but I’m not opposed to some crops or tweets now, but I’m still a pretty straight forward shooter
Why did you start shooting shows? Are you interested in photography beyond music?
I started shooting shows because it was what I was interested in and doing in my life at the time I got interested in photography. Like I said, photography and punk go hand in hand for me. They did in 1985 and they still do now. I could not have one without the other. But that said, yes, I’m very much interested in photography beyond music. I photography punk and live bands, but I also photography trees and bricks and flowers and crumbling structures and every interesting light pattern and greyscale detail or explosion of color or literally whatever passes in front of my eyes. I see the world in a series of still frames and captures moments. I gotta admit that I love my iPhone more than anything for the ability to take all the photos that I see all the time. It used to be absolutely painful to me to be caught without a camera. Likewise, I enjoy bands more when I photograph them. If I watch a band without a camera, I still see in still frames and caught (or missed) moments
What do you look for when you are taking photographs? What are you trying to convey?
A moment in time. Something caught out of context. A detail that you would not see if you looked at it a different way. A distortion. Something beautiful or ugly or shocking. Yet my version of shocking is not that of a documentary war image or actual shock or horror. My shocking would be more like a baby’s shoe found in the mud or a nail sticking out of the base of a plant. I like things out of context, seen in a new and unexpected way. I have always enjoyed an image through an alley that you were not really sure which way was up. Or a shot of a tree that looks like a monster, or a flower that looks other worldly. I enjoy light patterns and movement and things captured in such a way that you can feel something and sometimes not recognize it either. I like images that transcend what they are. Bark that doesn’t look like a part of a tree. Trees growing out of the foundation of a building. The unexpected found where you don’t expect it
What is your edit process like? Do you prefer your final images to be in black & white or color or a mix and why? If a mix, how do you decide if an image should be in one or the other?
Now a days, I dump my files from a day, or a shoot, or a show, or a week, or whatever — I flag my favorites - then I “color correct” them - then I will again choose my favorites. Depending on what I’m doing or what the photos are of or for - my editing process is different. In other words if I am editing photos from a show — I will just flag everything that I like — then narrow it down again and again until I have a couple or a single favorite. Again in depends on my objective, or if there is an objective. If I edit a day out shooting — I will again choose favorites — I try to keep the edits loose and include a few wild cards to explore further. Once I have a selection of edited choices that have been color corrected then I usually make some prints. Again, it all depends on whether this is my family photos, my personal work, bands, or trees or whatever. I have everything sorted by date, by months, by type. I have photos albums for the month by year. I have hard drives and archives and prints in albums, boxes and on and on. I find a system or a format that works and tend to stick with it. Uniformity not chaos. I like to keep a linear process — which is why I can easily go and pull a shot from a particular year, band, or place if needed.
Black and white or color? It depends. I started out as a black and white photographer. I shot black and white film. I did my “art” in black and white. When I switched to digital, well that is in color, and then it depends what the final image will be. It depends on what the use is. Is it in print in a fanzine — well it’s black and white. Is the image itself about color — then it’s in color. Trees and stuff I stick with color. Buildings and bricks and decrepit decay I prefer black and white. Bands, shows and punk rock — it just depends. If the stage lights are colorful and it’s a good color photo — then I like color. sometimes the color is distracting and the image is clearer or more effective in black and white. Sometimes the reds of stage lights annoy me and I prefer the clarity of black and white. Sometimes the bulb effect of the colored lights on a stage make a beautiful color image. Sometimes the color is the photo. Sometimes the colors are a distraction. I do both. I honestly LOVE black and white the greyscale in between. I think that there is not much more beautiful that the and grey tones in the grain of film. But sometimes a burst of intense color is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen and I could make a whole series just about the color green.
Which image of yours is your favorite and why? What makes it a successful image?
I have a few photos that are favorites in different categories.
One of my favorite band photos is the one of Amy from Nausea with her fist in the air on the stage in Tompkins Square Park. In many ways it’s one of the simplest photos, but I love it because it’s got so much strength and power. That fist in the air. A rad woman. A favorite band. A moment and time I experienced. It represents a lot for me. I’ve got plenty of other way more action pact wild photos where Jerry A’s blood drips down his face, or Daryl form cXa flies through the air. Likewise there are photos that I look in Fetus squat out of the 4th and 5th floor windows looking down on the willow tree in the community garden next door. I love those photos because I love the crumbling brick and the tree out of the window and I never tire of looking out that window. I also love those photos because I climbed up 5 flights of missing steps to get to that spot and it felt like magic when I got the end result. There is a photo that says “free the land” on an empty billboard in La Plaza on 9th Street in NYC’s LES, There’s a community painting on the wall behind it and the garden and willow trees again. I love that photo. It captures the squatters, the activists, the revolutionaries, the crumbling city, and the nature springing out of it all. Free the Land is a statement of taking back the land from land owners, but it’s also for me a statement about letting nature go and grow and take over. And then there are my more recent trees. My favorite is one of the photos of the Angel Tree in South Carolina. A 2,000 year old Live Oak that is massive and gorgeous and amazing and I just want to live in it, by it, near it, under it and I can stare through those mossy fern covers intertwining vines of branches forever. A successful image is one that i never tire of looking at. One that lures me in and holds me and keeps me forever. Whether it’s the moment captured, the movement stopped, or the window into the world or back inwards to myself…. the composition, the movement of the eye as it travels around the frame. The grain, the color, the grey, the details, the quality, the feelings evoked and the memories of the moment captured.
My favorite photos are old because I’ve been with them for a long time and they still hold true. Much like my favorite books are the first imprints from years ago… but that doesn’t discount that i have new favorite photos and books from this month, this year, this decade, and yesterday. Thank goodness. It’s ever going.
What photographers do you admire the most (not just music photographers)? What is it about their work that appeals to you?
I got really hung up on the documentary photographers of the Great Depression — Walker Evans, Dortohea Lange, Margaret Bourke White and then Mary Ellen Mark. I went to a talk once by Mary Ellen Mark and then a photo opening years later and when I saw her I cried, just cause i was so moved and so excited to be near her. I didn’t talk to her. But she was such a huge inspiration for me that simply being in the same room as her was life changing. Weird, but true.
But again, those are like my first favorites. Kinda like choosing favorite records or favorite bands — it’s like well, favorite from what period of my life, favorite from what genre favorite or favorite to what end. I love looking at good photos, period. I have studied photography my whole life. I went to the School of Visual art and got a BFA in photography and studied the history of photography. I like a lot of different photographers for different reasons and I’m thankful to have lots of peers who’s work I also very much admire and am continually inspired by.
Have you had your work published (self or by others)? A photoshow?
Yep. A bunch.
I published my own zine for 20 years called Slug & Lettuce which essentially became a forum for me to print and share my band photography over the years. I was very involved in ABC NO RIO in NYC for many years and have done a lot of things photo related with that place - exhibits and in print. I’ve had stuff on records and zines and books and here and there. I’ve done lots of stuff for bands and with bands. I’ve had photo shows here and there as well — been part of group shows and I’ve done solo exhibits as well. In recent years I did several exhibits at Vinyl Conflict just focused on band photography from my time in Richmond (1997-2001 and 2005-2007). One of my Lunachicks photos was used for a Vans ad campaign in 2019 and was in the NYC subway and on the side of buildings in Brooklyn. Poison Idea has continued to use a few of my photos far and wide. I’ve got a few photos that keep popping up in the world within and without credit. The internet is crazy cause people find me and ask to use old photos and I likewise find my photos that have been used all over the place without my ever knowing. Currently I do a monthly photo column in the print zine Razorcake and also do a regular one line photo column for them as well. I love taking photos and I love sharing the photos and as with anything you do long enough, the stuff gets around
.What would be your top three goals with your work?
I WANT TO PUBLISH A BOOK (or three!)
I want to do a Slug & Lettuce photo book.
I want to do a book that focused on my NY years in the early 90s punk scene in the LES.
I’d like to do a photo book that just focused on my Richmond years - 1997 to now.
And I could put together a few other collections as well.
Books Books Books.
Great interview!
Christine is an absolute legend who's taken some of my all time favorite photos in punk. She's also always been super nice.