Don Pyle: Trouble in the Camera Club: A Photographic Narrative of Toronto’s Punk History 1976-1980

In the summer of 1976, at the age of 14, a Toronto music fan by the name of Don Pyle started taking photographs of the city’s burgeoning punk rock scene. How a 14-year-old got into the clubs is anyone’s guess, but we should all be thankful that he did. Earlier this year, a collection of Pyle’s photographs taken in venues such as the El Mocambo and the Horseshoe Tavern between 1976 and 1980 were published as Trouble in the Camera Club. (See this issue’s review of the book here.) In it are rare images of Canada’s premiere bands of the period – some names still well-known like D.O.A, Teenage Head, The Diodes and The Viletones, as well as others like The Ugly and The Curse whose music is ripe for rediscovery. Pyle also captured some of the first Toronto performances by punk legends, including the Ramones, Dead Boys, Iggy Pop, Blondie, The Runaways and The Clash when their tours brought them to Toronto.

The unbridled raw energy of the era – one not likely to be repeated in Toronto again any time soon – shines through in this portfolio of images selected by the photographer especially for this sound- and music-themed issue. Some of these images made it into Pyle’s book; others remain unpublished, but are among the photographer’s personal favourites.

Pyle went on to become a musician, most notably in Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet in the 1980s and 90s, and with King Cobb Steelie in the 1990s. He continues to make music with the bands Black Heel Marks and The Filthy Gaze of Europe. He also works as an engineer and producer, having worked on tracks by Peaches, The Sadies and Iggy Pop, and as a composer, including musical scores for films by Sarah Polley and John Greyson.

Images from Trouble in the Camera Club are on view at the Northern District Public Library in Toronto until the end of October, 2011.