The photographer Stephanie Chernikowski moved to New York City from Texas at an auspicious time — in 1975. The city was on the edge of a financial abyss, but at the margins, daring new forms of art and music were emerging.
Renting a loft on the Bowery from Andy Warhol, Ms. Chernikowski could go, camera in hand, just across the street to CBGB, the seminal rock club, to chronicle the flowering of punk rock and New Wave.
She died on April 1 at 84. Here are some of her images from one of the headiest periods in pop history.
“The city was broke and rents were cheap, so it was teeming with creative people,” Ms. Chernikowski said. “I was bedazzled, more fascinated by the ruins of abandoned buildings, with layer after layer of peeling paint, than put off by them.”
Equal parts photojournalist and fine-art photographer, Ms. Chernikowski shot bands like Talking Heads, Blondie, the Cramps, Television and Richard Hell and the Voidoids — not only ontstage, during raucous performances, but also in reflective moments away from the spotlight.
Alex Williams is a Times reporter on the Obituaries desk.
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