Alison Braun Photography

Alison Braun Photography Professional photographer and archivist at The Punk Rock Museum. 45 years archive of over 250 punk and metal bands. Biography

I have always been a music fan.
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https://www.alisonbraun.com
https://buymeacoffee.com/alisonbraunphoto In 1977 I attended a Kiss concert and watched as the photographers worked in front of the stage. I was only 10 or 11 when I realized that I wanted to do the same. I was drawn to photographing people. For me shooting bands was a great way to not only contribute as a fan, but to also document an emerging music scene. I began takin

g pictures as a young teenager with a Pentax K100 that my father had given me. He was a serious amateur photographer and after a trip to Yosemite together, I was certain that I wanted to become a photographer. At fourteen, I began using my camera as a way to gain free admittance to music clubs on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. In exchange for a spot on the band's guest list I traded copies of the photos I shot of the bands that played there. I spent the next several years frequenting the Whisky, Roxy, and Starwood. My photography portfolio continued to grow while I spent time at a Hollywood recording studio and out-of-town shows. After developing the film and printing the photos in my home darkroom, I would meet the band to deliver the pictures. My parents became reluctant hosts to various musicians who often came to our house. Eventually, I began contributing to punk rock fanzines locally and internationally. This artist’s page represents a small selection of a body of work that is comprised of thousands of images amassed over 40 years. Alison Braun-

Makes My Blood Dance - El Corazon Seattle 9/8/2026
09/10/2026

Makes My Blood Dance - El Corazon Seattle 9/8/2026

Powerman 5000 - El Corazon Seattle 9/8/2026. Dang, this was a fun set!
09/09/2026

Powerman 5000 - El Corazon Seattle 9/8/2026. Dang, this was a fun set!

Enjoying the previously unseen images? Do the moldy old stories make you smile, a little bit? Enjoying the current work?...
09/08/2026

Enjoying the previously unseen images? Do the moldy old stories make you smile, a little bit? Enjoying the current work? We used to make zines, now we have “content” available for free. Support DIY https://buymeacoffee.com/alisonbraunphoto

Previously unseen! Christian Death. Whisky 8/18/1981. Darkroom geek origin story: The contact sheet dilemma. Back in the...
09/07/2026

Previously unseen! Christian Death. Whisky 8/18/1981. Darkroom geek origin story: The contact sheet dilemma. Back in the day, with a manual camera, every single image was metered individually and each shot set up, one at a time. This meant that exposures were all over the place. A contact sheet effectively shows every image on the roll but with exposure averaged out across the roll. These images showed up as grossly under exposed on the contact sheet and were subsequently overlooked for 45 years - until I said “fk it”, and just scanned every frame to see what was there. And here they are. Unseen gems of our long gone friends captured during the best times of our lives.

Slayer, Kerry King - Clash of the Titans Tour- Seattle, 5/30/1991.
09/05/2026

Slayer, Kerry King - Clash of the Titans Tour- Seattle, 5/30/1991.

Christian Death, Rozz Williams and James McGearty - Whisky 8/18/1981. Before the word Goth existed, we were “death rocke...
09/04/2026

Christian Death, Rozz Williams and James McGearty - Whisky 8/18/1981. Before the word Goth existed, we were “death rockers” and “bat cavers”. We scoured thrift stores for vintage funeral chic and made our own clothes. Hot topic did not yet exist. For me, Rozz was also the first gender non conforming person I ever met. I was 15. Living so close to Hollywood allowed me to grow as a person, make new friends and most importantly bring my incredibly homophobic father along, to expand his narrow world view. Rozz is no longer with us, but we can not forget the incredible contribution they made to an entire emerging genre of music.

GBH Santa Monica Civic 8/6/1983. Last shot features Peter test tube photo bomb
09/03/2026

GBH Santa Monica Civic 8/6/1983. Last shot features Peter test tube photo bomb

Released 46 years ago today, Dead Kennedys’ debut Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables sounded less like an album than a w...
09/02/2026

Released 46 years ago today, Dead Kennedys’ debut Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables sounded less like an album than a warning. Somehow, all these years later the fruit is still fresh, and the vegetables have only gotten more rotten. Everything on this record is still relevant! Photos from September 6, 1981 show at a the Florentine gardens.

Neumos, Seattle, WA Origin Story"You should never pay for food here".Even though I had been in Seattle almost 2 years, b...
09/02/2026

Neumos, Seattle, WA Origin Story
"You should never pay for food here".
Even though I had been in Seattle almost 2 years, by 1992 and I was working at a custom darkroom and one of my clients, Eric Shirley gave me his business card. Turns out, he was an investor in a new club - Moe's Mo'Roc'N Café. I provided some of my shots for the club and Eric proclaimed that "I should never have to pay for food here again." With that he set up a tab that allowed me to have at least one meal a day while I worked poverty wages at my day job. Eventually, his mother purchased one of my works for her extensive art collection.
The club was renamed Neumos in 2003 and is still an anchor for local music in Seattle.

Update: all goneI was back in the darkroom recently preparing for a class I'll be teaching in Seattle and pulled a few p...
09/01/2026

Update: all gone

I was back in the darkroom recently preparing for a class I'll be teaching in Seattle and pulled a few prints of Wattie Buchan.

Limited availability (2). Darkroom print by Alison Braun.
RC print, signed. Acid Free matte included with an option for framing.

Address

109 Eastlake Ave E
Seattle, WA
98109

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