How did you start with photography?

I got into photography by way of applied arts.

Do you have a particular photograph that has always stuck with you?

The photo of the self immolating monk. I make a big distinction between snapshots and photographs, where a photograph can transcend into art, a snapshot is just a boring documentary most of the time where someone just point a camera and shoots. There are two totally different things. The self immolating monk is more of snapshot, but it has stood the test of time. I’m not demeaning that photo by any means of the word.

When you first stated taking the photos in L.A. you have said it was just a cheap 35 mm camera you were using.

Yes it was worth a total of thirty five bucks. I started taking it to shows and then got my first photo published 3 months later.

That is amazing, I still am afraid to send in my fiction pieces for fear of rejection letters.

You can’t let that stop you; it all depends on the taste and even the mood of the random person you send it to. If you’re confident its good quality work, they can all just drop dead.

You started with film did you make the transition to digital?

I stopped shooting film a few years ago and I don’t use a computer so I never made the move to digital. I do use my I-phone and I-pad but I have never really used a digital camera. I was always into taking photographs that did not need retouching or cropping, due to my art background I would always try to compose a photograph even if I was being knocked sideways in the pit. I would say I am more influenced by art, the Dadaists, Surrealists and the Avant-Garde style in art and music including early electronic music.

So would you say that you are a fan of the early German horror films like “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” “Nosferatu” and other such films?

Oh yeah that stuff is amazing; they still haven’t caught up to it.

I watched several documentaries on the subject and I still don’t see how they did it, and they did it so cheaply.

Yes no budget, it reminds of the all those murals that cost Twenty dollars to paint and now they want Twenty Thousand to restore them. It’s like …huh?

When you were taking photographs in the late 70’s and 80’s did you have a studio or did you have a darkroom in your house, how did you go about developing and editing?

I had a darkroom where I could print and develop film in my house and then in 1984 I stopped shooting Punk photos and got a studio where I was shooting for larger record labels that actually paid me. I was still friends with all the people, but when Thrash bands showed up and I was just kind of like…eh. I did 80 record covers before the end of 1983 there was actually a single that came out that said “surprise no photos by Edward Colver.” I never advertised, I don’t solicit work, my number is none published and I use general sympathy cards with my business info stamped on it as business cards. I’m quite proud of that, most photographers are so pushy and I never asked anybody for work. Hopefully I do good job and they will find me. Since I don’t use a computer when I finally got my I-phone and went on Facebook I noticed than everybody had been uploading my pictures but nobody knew who took them. It was so frustrating.

The first time I heard of or saw your work was on the Black Flag cover for Damaged. That is just such a really original and cool photograph.

Yep, that one still holds up.

That turned me on to noticing so many of your other photos, for instance the Christian Death photos.

I took a lot of those pictures of them and not to sound like a smart ass but I took almost all of the early iconic photos of Roz Williams. There are just not a lot of good photos of him out there. George the drummer used to call me the 5th member of the band and Rikk agreed.

The pictures I have seen that you took of Roz are beautiful.

Thank you, I have tons of them that no one has seen, I have about 500 photographs of early Christian Death.

Have you ever thought of putting them together in a book?

There have been discussions about that.

That would be a good one to do, Christian Death is one of those bands that has remained a favorite of many people and still gets new fans.

Well as far as I am concerned they have been over for a long time even though the “name” still gets used. It just isn’t Christian Death anymore.

Well there is also the fact that many people confuse Christian Death as Goth when they were in fact Death Rock.

Well they started it, and I’ll say this I’m older and I was involved in the hippy era. The Punks like to bag on the hippies but a lot of good stuff was set into motion during that time like the anti war protests, pacifism, ecological concern and other things which even now haven’t come to fruition. Then there are all these idiotic long haired red necks that people think “oh that’s a hippy,” no that isn’t a hippy.

My husband’s parents were from New York and were sort of beatniks. I think that period of time during the hippy movement and before glam that the beatniks were very much a sort of indication of things to come, and it doesn’t get a lot of credit.

The Punk scene in the early days and the birth of the hardcore scene I was involved in was more socially relevant than either the hippy era or definitely the beat era. It’s amazing to be involved in something that would become so socially relevant that was an underground movement at the time. People are still using my stuff from that period with no photo credit that I was the one who took it. It really pisses me off, just a total lack of respect. I’m going to take all of my Christian Death stuff and get it copy righted and then go after all of these people who keep using them on bootlegs and videos with no credit to the fact that I took them. I’m really tired of it.

I understand that, you took them you developed them, that is your work. People should respect the effort you put into it.

Some guy was using a picture I shot of Roz Williams and I asked him to please just post a photo credit so people will know I took it. He said it was up on the internet for anyone to use. Was just a bastard about it, totally dissed me when it would have taken him all of 30 seconds to attach my name to it. It’s weird! .

People seem to think that if it is on the internet it’s there for anyone to use.

Yeah it’s like once something makes it on to the internet, it’s gone. It would be nice to see some of these people get sued.

What Punk show was the first you attended?

I can’t remember the first Punk show I saw, between 1978 and 1984 I went to a show almost every day at least 5 days out of the week. Someone posted on facebook that if you went to a show and Ed wasn’t there you were at the wrong show. Two bands wrote songs about me.

Which bands?

Peace Corpse wrote a song called “Jocko Macho” which has the line “jump off the stage and you might get your picture taken by Edward Colver” and the Vandals wrote a joke song about me that is on “When in Rome”.

I also noticed you have a picture of Andy Warhol.

That was downtown L.A. 1985 at Estella Polaris it was a gallery show.

You also have photos of Tom Waits and Alice Cooper.

The Tom Waits was for IRS Records Cutting Edge Video show, it is at Travelers Café. I was just taking stills while a film crew was filming. Alice Cooper, I saw his L.A. debut in 1969 with the Mothers of Invention and the GTO’s, I did the photos in 1997. I asked him about the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen (a post war composer from Germany known for his electronic music amongst other classical pieces) when I photographed him, and he said every morning when they woke up that Glen Buxton would put that on. I had been telling friends during the 70s that I knew King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Alice Cooper listened to it, so when he told me that I was like “called it!”

I did want to ask about shooting at shows, did you ever have any problems with the kids?

When I was taking photography classes we were to bring in samples of our work. I had a teacher who was looking at the classes photographs and he got to mine and said “Nobody in this class took these pictures, these come from an insider, someone they were comfortable with.” I thought that was interesting insight but I was omnipresent at shows, I was always there. Even if they didn’t know me they wouldn’t mess with me because I was a fixture. Now days I wouldn’t go in the pit for anything, I stopped taking the pictures and going to the shows so now they wouldn’t know me and I would get messed with. Also everyone is a photographer these days, I call it faux-tography.

I also remember when audience participation changed from people helping each other up in the pit to people just going in and actually trying to hurt the other people. That is when I started standing in the back, when it became the “mosh pit.”

Yeah it was like I’m out to injure someone.

So, did you have any problems with subjects in general during photo sessions?

Yeah, I have a short list of people that are just problem children to work with. I usually get along with everybody but there are a couple people who just have raging crazy ego for no reason.

Did you ever find yourself in danger trying to get that perfect photo?

Yes, there is a video on YouTube called “Black Flag Reunion 1983” a show at the Olympic Auditorium; I was the only person between the barricade and the stage. A kid fell and I tried to help them up, and the barricade collapsed so the only protection from me and 3000 people was gone. No bouncers to help me I was pinned up with my chest against the stage, so I threw my camera up on the middle of the stage. Earl from Saccharine Trust and another kid ran over and helped me up, in the video you see me walking off to the side of the stage holding my hip. The title of the video is confusing because Black Flag had never broken up. Around that time I had taken a photograph of a backward pointing gun that was supposed to be the cover of Damaged but they didn’t want it so it ended up getting used for the Channel 3 “Fear of Life” album cover.

So tell me about the book “Blight at the End of the Funnel”

It was supposed to be a four volume box set 25 year overview of my work, my sculptures, street photography, celebrity portraits and the Punk stuff. It was reduced down to one book. I have tons of stuff nobody has ever seen. The next project is going to be just the Punk stuff.

Is that the Lethal Amounts show I have read about.

Yes, that is going to be a showing in September, the date is not concretely set up yet.

Is this going to be a combination of the photos, sculptures and applied art?

We have talked about putting some of the sculptures in the window but I’m not sure yet. It’s going to concentrate on the Punk photos that I have that haven’t been seen yet. I have found some gem’s that have really surprised me, a lot of really strong work. Pictures of the Stains before they became MDC and the Butthole Surfers with their pants all pulled down bent over.

That sounds about right for a Butthole Surfers picture.

I have a picture of Boyd Rice with the Meat Puppets at Club 88.

HUH???

Yeah, it doesn’t make any sense but I have it.

It seems around that time a lot of people were changing cities just to see what was going on over there, going to L.A., NYC and London. That was one of the nice things about punk rock was you could go somewhere and find a place to stay with other like minded people. That aspect was really cool.

Yes it was.

In 1984 you stopped doing Punk shows and went to work for record companies. You have pictures of one of my favorite men, Stiv Bators.

Have you seen the my pictures of him, he was such a great guy.

Yes I looked them up, he really was one of the sweetest people I ever met. You were doing a lot of album cover photos at this time.

I shot around 500 record covers for IRS and other record companies. Some of them are actually good!

Is there anything going on in L.A. that even holds a candle to Punk , hardcore and rap from the 80’s? It seems like it was the last big change in society and music.

Hip Hop or Rap now is horrible, people around my neighborhood blast it and it drives me crazy. I can’t think of anything that resembles the Golden Age.

You still go to live shows now?

I saw Nick Cave the other night and he was amazing, I also saw Grinderman about a year and a half ago it was incredible. I never took pictures of The Bad Seeds and I saw Johnny Thunders and didn’t take pictures of that either which is weird to me. I think of Johnny Thunders as Mister Rock and Roll.

I love Johnny Thunders so I will agree with you on that.

I also will go out sometimes and see the live Punk shows of bands I know, I don’t go out very much through. I also really like the Swans, I would go out to see them.

There is also the fact that shows are so loud now, I saw Iggy Pop a few years ago and it was stupid loud. It was like I was walking around with a box on my head for about 3 days.

Of the Punk bands you saw in the 80’s who were your favorites?

Black Flag, Circle Jerks, T.S.O.L., Wasted Youth, The Vandals… the “REAL” Vandals, mostly the bands I worked with. I hung out with T.S.O.L. and Christian Death a lot because they lived in Orange County and were close to me. I still see them.

I did an interview with Rikk Agnew last month.

Oh yeah he is doing so great now it’s really admirable.

When you talk about him there is a really distinctive sound connected to him and it would be a shame if it had ended like that.

Gitane has been really good for him, she has helped him get back on track.

Christian Death the first record is one of those records I have always owned.

Only Theater of Pain is such a great record.

I was told they have released the anniversary edition.

Yes they did it with the beige cover it’s supposed to be the color of parchment paper which is how Roz drew the original cover for the record. It’s funny how much recognition that record has been getting in the past couple of years.

Well that record was one of those records that Punks and Goths could agree on.

I don’t say this about very many records but that album is flawless.

Is it the 25th anniversary?

Oh no it’s over 30 years now. You were talking about the Damaged Cover for Blag Flag I have photos from that SST didn’t use that are way better. They seem to have gotten tossed out at my parents house, I would pay to find one of those, they were just so much better that the one they chose.

They are all lost?

Yes, and then when they put it on the cover they used a really washed out black and white version. Years later when they re-released it they put the photo on just like I shot it and Greg Ginn put Glen Freidman’s name under the photo credit.

Has he offered to correct it?

I haven’t talked to Greg since 1985, I’m furious about those shit re-issues of that Damaged. They should have done a proper Anniversary re-issue using the photos I have of them that have never been used.

Henry Rollins did use some of your photos for his book didn’t he?

You know my studio has turned into this crazy surrealist sculpture garden, and I hadn’t seen Henry in years but he came over to chose stuff for “Get in the Van” he didn’t say anything about the work I had in the studio which was crazy. He didn’t say “how ya doin” or even “look at all this junk” he just came in picked out the photos and left. It was pretty strange.

Wow, just get the stuff and leave.

Yeah it was sort of weird. You know there was a show in NYC called “Who Shot Rock and Roll” and it came to L.A. and they used the Damaged photo blown up to cover the entryway. I have a picture of Henry in front of it and he didn’t say anything about it being there. It’s kind of surreal that he doesn’t really acknowledge it.

From everything I see and read, he acknowledges his past and knows it’s what got him where he is but now is now and then was then. I think the past is hard for a lot of people because so many people from that period are gone now.

In my book it’s like every other page, he’s dead, he’s dead etc… At the Annenberg (Who Shot Rock and Roll show) they had me do a talk and the 250 reservations were gone in like 3 minutes I think and they said just under 3000 people tried to get into my talk. I got up there and talked for several hours and didn’t choke but a lot of it was like well the guy in that photo is dead now.

It’s strange to think who is still around and who isn’t.

It is, I think I look pretty good for my age and I look at some of the people who were kids back then who are much younger than me and they look awful.

What advice would you give to someone who is trying to be a photographer now?

I would tell them to get some art background to understand composition and to pay attention to light. I used to know exactly how lighting was going to affect every shot, I paid attention to that like a hawk. To me photography is all about good composition and lighting and getting light to do what you want. You have to pay attention to what is going on in the background also, it can be a distraction from your photograph.

It’s been great talking to you and I want to thank you for the time you have put aside for me today.

I have a joke for you.

ok

How many Punk rockers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

how many?

15, 1 to screw in the bulb, 2 to fight over who thought of it first and a dozen more who want to be on the guest list. Thank you to Edward Colver for talking to us and all photos used with this article are used with the permission of Edward Colver and were taken by Edward Colver.