LJMU Special Collections & Archives recently had a placement student from the University of Liverpool’s Masters of Archives & Records Management course, George Pearson, catalogue the photographic collection of Sheila Rock. You can view the top-level record for the collection, as well as browse the collection hierarchy on our online catalogue.

Sheila Rock is an American photographer who gained notoriety following her move to London in 1970 and subsequent work with The Face magazine. She is particularly known for her PUNK + (2013) publication which documented her time in the London punk scene and sparked following exhibitions in London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore. A second edition was published in 2020 titled YOUNG PUNKS.

The majority of this collection consists of photographs, negatives, contact sheets, digital photographs, and photographic slides taken by Sheila Rock of the 1970s and 1980s London punk scene, in addition to exhibition catalogues, clippings related to Sheila Rock, a wearable MP3 player badge as promotion for Punk+ featuring various Punk music, and a selection of other Punk+ photography badges. Many of the photographs featured in her 2013 PUNK + and other publications.

Subjects featured within her photography include: Billy Idol and Generation X; Subway Sect; The Damned; Rich Kids; Sham 69; John Lydon and Public Image Ltd.; Paul Weller and The Jam; Eater; The Stranglers; Siouxie Sioux; The Professionals; Poly Styrene; The Moors Murderers; The Bromley Contingent; The Buzzcocks; Blondie; The Cure; Vicious White Kids; Don Letts; New Hearts; The Cortinas; Jon Savage; Midge Ure; Roxy Music; Bauhaus; Motorhead; Gary Kemp and Spandau Ballet; Strawberry Switchblade; Richard Hell; The Ramones; Larry Blackmon and Cameo; The Alarm; Yellow Magic Orchestra; The Associates; Steve Jansen of Japan; Pete Wells and Angry Anderson of Rose Tattoo; Rockabilly; Anne Pigalle; The Photons; Then Jerico; Led Zeppelin; Brian Setzer and Stray Cats; Wilko Johnson; Television; and other photographs of Punk street fashion and the music scene.

Christopher Olive, Assistant Archivist 2025