Julia Gorton's Polaroids of 1970s NYC punk scene find new life on Instagram

Photographer Julia Gorton (born 1958) is sharing her archive of Polaroid shots capturing the 1970s punk and new wave scene in New York City, primarily taken at the legendary CBGB club in the Lower East Side. Her subjects include Television, Blondie, Patti Smith, Ramones, Lydia Lunch, Iggy Pop, and Talking Heads. Gorton, now a Graphic Design professor at Parsons New School, describes the images as spontaneous and unstudied, often too dark due to the nightclub setting. She told Vice Magazine that the photos she once considered flawed now best convey the era's character with honesty and power. The archive is being gradually released on her Instagram account @julia_gorton_nowave, where thousands of followers follow the process. Some underexposed shots have been digitally lightened using Photoshop, revealing previously invisible scenes, such as a blurred portrait of Television frontman Tom Verlaine and numerous images of Lydia Lunch, who posed most frequently. The online publication recently caught the attention of Shane Gonzales, director of streetwear brand Midnight Studios, who collaborated with Gorton on a punk-inspired collection called Safety Pins, reproducing her shots on clothing.