Dina Douglass – Shot As A Teen
A remarkable collection of Los Angeles punk photographs, hidden away in a closet for more than four decades, is being published for the first time. Shot As A Teen, out November 14 via Trust Records and Kill Your Idols Books, features photographs taken by then-teenage photographer Dina Douglass between 1981 and 1985, capturing the bands, fans and underground culture of LA’s burgeoning punk, goth and hardcore scenes.
Spanning 250 pages, Shot As A Teen includes never-before-published photographs of more than 60 bands, including Black Flag, Social Distortion, The Adicts, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Exploited, Circle Jerks, Minor Threat and The Misfits, among many others.
To celebrate the release, Trust Records and Kill Your Idols Books will host a public launch party and book signing with Douglass at BEYOND THE STREETS in Los Angeles on November 14. The event will offer fans the opportunity to meet Douglass, with the Trade Edition and a limited number of Deluxe Editions available for purchase on-site. BEYOND THE STREETS is located at 434 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036.
More than four decades after developing the photographs in her school darkroom and tucking them away in her childhood bedroom closet, Douglass began the painstaking process of bringing the archive to light. The result of thousands of hours of image restoration and meticulous research into names, dates and venues, Shot As A Teen preserves a pivotal moment in music history through the eyes of someone who experienced it firsthand.
Douglass was just as interested in the kids who filled the venues as the musicians onstage. With 40 pages devoted to fans and crowds, Shot As A Teen captures the faces, fashion and energy of a generation of young outsiders who found freedom, identity and community through punk. Taken from the perspective of someone who was herself part of that world, the photographs offer an intimate portrait of the scene that extends well beyond the stage.
Recalling her early days documenting the scene and the eventual rediscovery of her photographs, Douglass says:
“At the time, no one cared about my images. Some people even turned away, as if seeing something new and creative seemed too odd to fathom. Punk kids were just kids, but they protected their own and welcomed anyone who felt that this was their community. The bands were mostly punk kids themselves, so if you showed up with a camera, they usually didn’t care.
“There were only a handful of people shooting punk at the time, which is why these images have such a huge scarcity factor. When I finally pulled my negatives out of the closet and looked at them through a professional lens, I was truly surprised by the quality I was able to generate at such a young age. I had no idea that I’d created such a rare and far-reaching archive, and I now feel a deep sense of responsibility for the ongoing preservation of this history.”
Douglass began photographing the scene at just 16 years old, attending shows across Los Angeles with her Canon AE-1 camera. At a time when punk was often misunderstood by the mainstream, she found a community of young people who, like her, didn’t fit into conventional expectations. Her photographs capture that sense of belonging, both in the performances onstage and in the crowds that gathered to see them.
“I still feel so lucky that my mom let me out of the house to attend punk shows at such a young age. I was just 16, heading off to the seediest areas you could imagine, with no cell phone and only a Thomas Guide to help with directions. Not every punk kid was allowed out to see the bands they loved, but my mom always trusted me to take care of myself and return safely. And for that, I will forever be grateful,” recalls Douglass.
Shot As A Teen is available in both Deluxe and Trade Edition formats. The Trade Edition features Wattie Buchan of the Exploited shot in glorious black and white on the dust jacket. The Deluxe Editions, limited to five editions of 50 copies each, feature an alternate dust jacket with a full color image of Keith “Monkey” Warren of the Adicts. plus one photographic print of an iconic image from the book signed and numbered by Douglass. Both Editions are available exclusively from Trust Records.
The five Deluxe Editions feature prints of:
Keith “Monkey” Warren of The Adicts (50 copies)
Wattie Buchan of The Exploited (50 copies)
Jerry Only of The Misfits (50 copies)
Mike Ness of Social Distortion (50 copies)
Discharge Fans (50 copies)
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