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damsorrow's review against another edition
1.0
The long version: Fuck this fucking book. There was an incredible opportunity here to talk about the activism of punk houses, how they're run, how to run one, chronicle past and present "alternative living collectives," mention/analyze significant ones such as fort thunder or something like c-squat, the content of who lives in these houses and why, etc. etc. Abby Banks seems to have politely declined and instead chose to make something real boring. There is very little text--no communication as to what goes on in these houses, what makes them punk, or anything else beyond "Look how filthy this toilet is!" "Look at all these show flyers on the wall!" "Look at how they store all their records!"
"But Lola," you ask. "This is a photo book, it doesn't need lots of text." Okay, fair. But the photos are flat. They are seriously uninteresting. Oh, and Banks didn't even get rid of the JPEG distortion on some of these shots. Embarrassing!
The short version: Excuse me, sir, I don't mean to be rude about what you choose to read, but I'd like to point out that URBAN OUTFITTERS gave this book a five starred review.
"But Lola," you ask. "This is a photo book, it doesn't need lots of text." Okay, fair. But the photos are flat. They are seriously uninteresting. Oh, and Banks didn't even get rid of the JPEG distortion on some of these shots. Embarrassing!
The short version: Excuse me, sir, I don't mean to be rude about what you choose to read, but I'd like to point out that URBAN OUTFITTERS gave this book a five starred review.
hunterhawk52's review against another edition
Me swamps and princess went to some sellout neo-liberal, bookstore in berkeley to see if it was true that somebody would actually do this to our already challenged (sexist, politically despondent)community, I couldn't read any of the words mostly I just looked at the art that this person photographed (and didnt credit the artists)I got hella pissed and wait i STILL AM. If anyone knows a good reason why our filthy lives should be on the pages of some $30 coffee table book in some yuppie house let me know so I can stop talking mad SHIT. and what the fuck is an anarchist interior gawd damnit
jamke's review against another edition
2.0
My house was photographed, but not used for this book. I got this book because of my other friends' homes which were featured in this book, especially the Robot House [RIP]. my brain is shot, this is going to help me keep memories in my head of people and places i have known.
miloblue's review against another edition
5.0
The photographs are amazing. It's a very interesting look at interiors based on punk subculture. A lot of the spaces are super chaotic, messy, filthy, and alive.
xterminal's review
4.0
Abby Banks, Punk House: Interiors in Anarchy (Abrams, 2007)
Ever since I began to be aware of them, I've had a very strong desire to live in a punk house. I'm long-married now and full of all those silly responsibilities, so it's probably not going to be happening any time soon, but the longing is still there. Thus, this was pretty much the perfect book for me, a photoessay covering a number of punk houses around the country. I mean, how cool is that?
The best thing about the book, by far, is that Abby Banks gets it. This isn't your mama's book of architectural photographs, this is DIY madness. While the book is as professionally-produced as you'd expect from Harry N. and company, the photographs themselves have an appealing variance in quality that speaks directly to the punk-house mindset without ever calling into question Banks' competence as a photographer. In other words, they're not just photos of places, they're photos of philosophy, of attitude, of worldview. How cool is that?
This is obviously something of a vertical-market book. If you don't get it, you won't get it. But if you do, this is something you'll leaf through time and again. Fascinating and beautiful. ****
Ever since I began to be aware of them, I've had a very strong desire to live in a punk house. I'm long-married now and full of all those silly responsibilities, so it's probably not going to be happening any time soon, but the longing is still there. Thus, this was pretty much the perfect book for me, a photoessay covering a number of punk houses around the country. I mean, how cool is that?
The best thing about the book, by far, is that Abby Banks gets it. This isn't your mama's book of architectural photographs, this is DIY madness. While the book is as professionally-produced as you'd expect from Harry N. and company, the photographs themselves have an appealing variance in quality that speaks directly to the punk-house mindset without ever calling into question Banks' competence as a photographer. In other words, they're not just photos of places, they're photos of philosophy, of attitude, of worldview. How cool is that?
This is obviously something of a vertical-market book. If you don't get it, you won't get it. But if you do, this is something you'll leaf through time and again. Fascinating and beautiful. ****
otterno11's review
2.0
I felt that this coffee table photo book was an adequate, if a bit uninformative, collection of images attempting to illustrate the beauty and quirkiness of the "punk house." Including vibrant pictures of houses and people across the United States, urban and rural, from coast to coast, capturing the cool, the weird, and the downright grody. Interesting but not very informative, other reviewers have certainly covered the books shortcomings (a superficial, even exploitative look at the subculture for the amusement of "outsiders" that does very little to explain the whos, whys, or hows of these experimental living spaces). To make matters worse, the images themselves are often rather fuzzy and of low resolution with poor organization, making it difficult to separate the specific locations, or even where the photos themselves begin or end. Still, I did enjoy flipping through the book, and as a quick read, it might be worth a check out from the library.
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