“The Eye of LA Punk”

Edward has created 20th Century Icons with his photographs. Colver is best known for his early punk photographs. The moments he captured on film will live on as icons not only because of the vision of the photographs themselves, but because they eloquently document the birth of punk music, fashion, art and lifestyle in Los Angeles. This web site presents music photography from the photographer who helped illuminate the punk style.  Rock photographer Edward Colver is best known for his punk photographs but his career spans a much wider spectrum as you will see as you explore this website further.  Be sure to check out his Discography page to see the album covers featuring his work.

His work was featured in the film and the book “American Hardcore”. You can learn more at his Wikipedia page here
ROCK PHOTOGRAPHER EDWARD COLVER ON WIKIPEDIA
Licensing and other inquiries: Please email: thepeople@edwardcolver.com

“As many of you know, punk and hardcore changed my life by showing me that through resourceful independence people can build their own scene and be creative on their own terms. Edward Colver shot some amazing photographs of the hardcore scene and one became the cover for Steven Blush’s excellent book “American Hardcore”. Anyone who cares about the influence of indie music should check him out.”  – Shepard Fairey OBEYGIANT

““Ed Colver documented the Los Angeles Punk scene as a fan/insider/ally. Not only was he there for the shows, he was also there for the hangouts after the shows, the night-to-night goings on in the scene. It was obvious he was using his camera to get a better understanding of the people who made up this wild and sometimes sadly tragic group of young people. It was not an attempt to sensationalize but to create a bridge from what was happening to the one looking at the images and by doing this with not only a great deal of persistence and skill but true empathy and affection for what was happening and all those involved, he really nailed it down. Everyone liked Ed. He was always at the shows, a head or more taller than most of the people there, right in the middle of it.” – Henry Rollins

“Ed Colver’s work was nothing short of an iconography machine. One unsung lenseman churned out the cover of Damaged, the combined early works of Bad Religion 1980-1985, and perhaps the most famous punk rock photo of the early LA scene, an iconic stagedive captured mid-flight and forever married to the name Wasted Youth. Without his work that place in time looks different, is remembered different, and thus occupies a slightly different place in musical history.”   – Carlos Ramirez  NOECHO

“The reason so many people consider Edward Colver the photographer of note of that era is that his photographs, besides documenting the people and the milieu, are informed by Colver’s transcendent artistic vision as a photographer. That is why so many of his images of that scene at that time have become iconic touchstones.”  – Richard Vidan