MURRAY BOWLES

GREEN DAY AT BERKELEY SQUARE IN 1992. MURRAY BOWLES ARCHIVE.

BLATZ AT 924 GILMAN IN 1990. MURRAY BOWLES ARCHIVE.

CHRONICLER OF THE LOST MURRAY BOWLES

MURRAY BOWLES AT YOUR PLACE TOO IN OAKLAND IN 1992. MURRAY BOWLES ARCHIVE.

Bay Area punks are mourning the loss of Murray Bowles, the beloved photographer who faithfully documented the local music scene for four decades. Murray began covering live punk shows in 1980 on a chance assignment for the fanzine Ripper. Immediately hooked on the infectious energy of the music and the crowd, he soon became a devoted presence at punk rock events all over the Bay Area. Between sets, Murray could be found outside the club selling prints of his photos for 15 cents (later he raised the price to 25 cents)—just enough to cover the cost of the paper. Over the course of his unofficial career, he captured generations of underground culture and, through his singular images, conveyed the vibrancy of the Bay Area scene to punks all over the world, many of whom packed their bags and headed for California to join in.

Today, Murray’s massive photographic archive represents the authoritative record of Bay Area punk. Countless album covers and liner notes feature Murray’s photographs. Without his work, the documentary film Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk could not have been made. A gifted musician, Murray played viola with the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra, and fiddle in the bands Ding Dang! and The Shit Kickers. He was also an avid hiker, reader of detective novels, computer programmer, and beer aficionado. Among the Bay Area punks who knew and loved him, Murray was affectionately dubbed, “Chronicler of The Lost.” His death has sent shock waves of sadness through the community, where his sudden absence feels unfathomable. Longtime pal Spider perfectly described the magnitude of the loss she and so many others are feeling when she said, “I feel like we’ve been collectively orphaned.” - Anna Brown �� �� ��