January 31, 2007

I Scream, You Scream

“Punk Love,” by Susie J. Horgan

Love is a battlefield.
Love is like a heat wave.
Love is working at Häagen-Dazs.

Maybe that last one isn’t so catchy, but it sure seemed to be for photographer Susie J. Horgan, whose new book, Punk Love, documents the birth of D.C. hardcore.

Horgan got her start in 1980 while working at the Georgetown Häagen-Dazs, snapping shots of co-scooper Ian MacKaye and manager Henry Rollins.

Check out the book or see the photos at an exhibit opening this weekend at the Govinda Gallery. The photographs are unusually lighthearted: Rollins and MacKaye goofing around with bananas and stuffing each other into the ice cream storage freezer. But there’s also the iconic picture of Alec MacKaye’s shaved head that became a Minor Threat album cover. It’s definitely the kind of stuff that would make a pop-culture historian do a double take.

And it sure beats the art that’s in your average Waiting Room.

Available online at amazon.com or your local bookstore. Govinda Gallery, 1227 34th Street NW, between M and Prospect Streets (202-333-1180 or govindagallery.com). Exhibition opening, Friday, 6 p.m. Regular gallery hours, Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.