Sheila Rock, born in 1980, is an American of Hawaiian and Japanese descent. Her family resides in Honolulu. She attended Boston University and spent a year at the London Film School. She currently lives in London. Sheila Rock began her journey into photography as a self-taught enthusiast, always carrying a Nikkormat and capturing everything she saw.
She is renowned internationally as an American portrait photographer, particularly celebrated for her music photography during the punk and post-punk scenes. Rock has been a significant influence in shaping the aesthetic of creative magazines. Her portrait photography spans a wide spectrum of subjects, ranging from the emergence of punk and new wave music to sensitive depictions of British holidaymakers, capturing the resilient spirit of British summertime.
Rock’s work is prominent in the world of Fine Arts for projects that embrace diverse genres including “Music,” her passion for animals with “Horses,” and evocations of spirituality with “Tibetans.” She describes her early days photographing “interesting people” she encountered on London’s Kings Road in the 1970s.
Sheila Rock is considered the perfect photographer of English punk, delving beyond the mere concept of bands to provide artists with a context, an internalization of the spirit of the times. In her splendid photographic book “Punk+” (First Third Books), her images pierce through the defining English years (1976-1979), evoking the atmosphere and aura of those days. They scrutinize locales like Sex, Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s shop, or Acme Attractions (with Don Letts posing). Her photos capture The Jam in their early days, John Lydon in his room, The Clash amid derelict urban alleys, Sid Vicious and Glen Matlock together in the band Vicious White Kids (despite a rivalry that never materialized), Billy Idol’s Generation X outside the Roxy, the iconic punk venue in London, as well as The Damned, The Stranglers, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Subway Sect, The Cure in their early days, Buzzcocks, The Moors Murderers, Paul Weller of The Jam, Boy, and John Lydon of Public Image Ltd.
Published in 2013, her book remains her most prized work, a collection of over 200 mostly unpublished images unearthed serendipitously from a warehouse. These photos now travel the world and are exhibited, with Sheila recently returning from a series of shows in Asia. “Punk+” (the “+” symbolizing “beyond punk,” entering into the 1980s) is an independent production, a limited edition of 2,000 numbered and autographed copies. Three hundred copies (higher priced) include a photo of The Clash signed by Sheila herself.
In addition to the images, there are brief statements (almost anecdotes) from her old travel companions: Chrissie Hynde (“I gave Sid Vicious the padlock he always wore around his neck, bought it at Chelsea Green Hardware store”), Glen Matlock (“I made the rounded sign for Sex, some plywood, glue, plastic, very Rauschenberg”; or “Paul Weller asked me to join The Jam but I refused, he wanted me to wear a jacket and tie”), and others such as music critic Chris Salewicz, Jon Savage, Paul Simonon, Jah Wobble, etc.
Sheila’s interests extend beyond music; her website features portraits of “horses, botany, hotels, children, seaside landscapes,” etc. Her works are displayed in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London and elsewhere around the globe.
She recently returned from an extensive tour in Asia where she presented the book “Punk+” at exhibitions in Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The sponsor was Agnès b., the French fashion house. Glen Matlock was invited to perform during the exhibitions in Shanghai and Singapore.
Her works are part of the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the National Portrait Gallery in London. She has published four books of her works.