TROUBLE IN THE CAMERA CLUB

Over 300 photographs and 200 additional flyers, badges and ephemera.
Essays by Don Pyle and introduction by Viletones vocalist Steven Leckie
Published by ECW Press.

“After seeing the Ramones at the New Yorker Theatre in 1976, I knew I needed to move beyond my Instamatic. In Spring 1977, I bought my first 35mm camera, just in time for the golden-moment birth of what is commonly referred to as punk, in Toronto, capturing the earliest gigs of local bands, primarily from 1977-79, including the Viletones, The Diodes, The Dishes, The Curse, Teenage Head and visiting ambassadors Iggy Pop, Ramones, The Clash, Blondie, The Vibrators and more.

The camera gave a shy 15-year old -- wary of getting busted and thrown out -- a reason to be in the front lines. Luckily, the Crash'n'Burn, Hotel Isabella, the Horseshoe, David's back-alley gay disco and other dives turned a blind eye to the underage. Hidden behind my camera, observing yet unseen, I witnessed the birth of the revolution.

I joined my high school's camera club to learn how to print, develop and to get free chemicals. At the time I could only afford to make contact sheets and a very limited number of prints. Years later, I saw what I had for the first time and that became Trouble In The Camera Club.”