Paradiso Stills
PARADISO STILLS - THE BEST POST PUNK NIGHTCLUB KIDS PHOTOBOOK EVER!
Wow. Paradiso Stills
by Max Natkiel. Published in Holland in 1986 and rediscovered now as the best post punk photobooks we have ever seen. We won't even try to explain how good it is - just look here.
The book is good on tattoos...and on studs, chains, sleeveless t-shirts and knives. It's further evidence that youth cult fashions get better the further they get from London. Looks that were easy to achieve on Carnaby Street would have been improvised, reinterpreted or fantastically reconfigured in Holland, Belgium and beyond.
Natkiel photographed Dutch kids going to gigs at the Paradiso in Amsterdam for six years from 1980. This is one of our favourites. Has anyone ever looked cooler than these two boys? OK - maybe this young crass fan.
It should be noted that drugs were legal at the Paradiso and most of the portraits were taken at the end of the night! Fortunately/unfortunately, the book is as scarce as it is desirable. We have a copy in London and another on its way to the Bookmarc store in Melrose Place. First come first served if you want it to be yours.