Youth & Decay: Converse pres. David Corio wt Jam Division @ Zinc

Art and rock are seldom a quaint combo (unless you count The Velvet Underground and everything else Lou Reed did). But for rock photo-journalist David Corio, they are as inseparable as black and white.

Image Ben Liew

The man who snapped some of the most prolific and intense moments in rock history was down at Zinc Art Gallery recently, exhibiting some of his works and giving advice to budding photo-buffs. JUICE was there early around 7pm, on opening night, and already the crowd was building, clicking away at their friends’ mock-star poses.

We managed to say hi to David but since we already did an in-depth interview with him, we left him to the mercy of his photo-groupies. What caught our attention more were the mesmerising large photo prints of Debbie Harry, Johnny Ramone, Tom Waits, Joe Strummer, The Pretenders and Johnny “Rotten” Lydon, and of course, the uffin Converse kicks and Jam Division merchandise on sale.

The night got better as the bands came on. First up were The Aggrobeats, a rootsy, reggae-fied quintet that did an awesome cover of ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ by the Beatles. They got the crowd grooving thanks to the keyboardist and his vintage lead. After them were The Rollin Sixers, classic blues rock complete with a harmonica-wailing frontman. The band did an acoustic set but sounded a bit off. Maybe a bit of distortion would’ve helped. Or a bit more free beer, which had just run out before the bands came on.

So, by the end of the night, what did we learn from this exhibition? Do people look better in black and white photos? Well, not really. But no matter what your weapon of choice is, be it pen, nanchucks or camera, history is ours for the taking.

Youth & Decay: Converse pres. David Corio in collaboration with Jam Division @ ZincArt Gallery was documented on Friday 23 April 2010. For a clearer picture, checkout our gallery.