Caroline Coon
11 3/4 x 16 1/2 ins
Don Letts. Filming at the Rock Against Racism concert, Victoria Park, 30th April 1978.
With his Super 8 camera Don Letts, age 20, son of Jamaican parents, not only made the first film to document the punk rock explosion – The Punk Rock Movie (1978) – he became a crucial collaborator and contributor to the formation of punk’s multi-cultural counter-culture. He DJ’d at punk gigs and at the Roxy Club, introducing reggae to a new generation of white musicians who went on to create the reggae/dub punk rock infusion. Don Letts, facing up to British institutional racism, contributed to the inclusive changes we are all benefiting from today. This photograph is typical of Don Letts at the time, always with his camera, filming, filming…