This year photographer Porsche Little has been thinking about punk. What the term means, and who it’s usually applied to. The 21-year-old grew up in New Jersey, but found her cultural home in the NYC punk scene. While her experience of this world was diverse and dynamic, she was frustrated by the continuing public perception that it was a place for angry white men.
In her new photo series she reached out to the women around her who are often overlooked when cataloging the scene’s heritage. Speaking to them about what the term means in their own lives they discuss how punk has no gender, colour or sexuality. It’s for everyone who wants a piece. Or as Porsche puts it, “Punk is only an emotion, that anyone of any colour and gender can feel.”
Moh
“I used to wear combat boots in middle school and everyone called me weird, a wannabe white girl. I was never phased by any of it, and that’s what being punk is about. Not what colour you are or whether you have/had a vagina or penis, but turning heads without even trying — not giving one single fuck what anyone has to say. I am proud to be a natural born bad ass!”
Lauren Meloni
“Today I see so many people making fun of the crusties on the street, and it really has me torn when I see high fashion designers like Coach, Alexander Wang, Marc Jacobs, etc, copying our style of leather jackets and patchwork jackets and pants, and selling them off as ‘high fashion’ and making a fortune of it… Punk to me is not a fashion trend, it’s a lifestyle.”
Geneva Rojas
“Being a woman of colour in the punk scene was special, for a long time I thought it was reserved for white people. It took me a while to learn it was universal. I don’t know where all this fight comes from; but I believe I connected with the rebellion of my indigenous ancestors. Whatever it is, I’m just very happy I’m able to kick ass, break the rules, feel liberated, and be a woman at the same time.”
Bria
“To me punk isn’t about dressing loud, it’s most importantly a state of mind. It’s the uninhibited and fearless pursuit of freedom on your own terms without the influence of mainstream society. It’s questioning everything and resisting tyranny in all its forms and faces. Fighting the good fight.”
Rose
“To be punk is to oppose and shun the ideals that society has imprinted on you. To step out of that realm and form opinions of your own. To be unapologetically yourself and live by your own standards.”
Abib
“I’m very nostalgic, I try to relive what I didn’t get to when I was younger because I lived in the hood. As a result of that, I grew up listening to punk behind closed doors. I always felt like I couldn’t express that part of myself when I was younger because of my surroundings, it wasn’t really accepted in my neighbourhood. But I’m sort of like a hybrid, I’m hood-punk.”
Credits
Photography Porsche Little