To today’s youth, the name ‘Sex Pistols’ most probably doesn’t carry the weight and cultural notoriety that it did in the ‘70s. While it’s difficult to truly feel the raw energy and violence of the punk scene that raided that era, through the lens of figures like Dennis Morris, we can appreciate the icons and times for what they were.

What’s surprising is that Dennis Morris, the legendary British photographer known for his intimate portrayal of Bob Marley and the Sex Pistols, never actually wanted to be a music photographer – “I wanted to be a war photographer.” 

Perhaps that’s what cemented his photographs, and relationship with his subjects, as the classics they are. “For me, I found my war in the Sex Pistols,” reflects Morris, “the way I photographed the band was more like documentation.” And in doing so, in really photographing them as people, Morris’ portraits strike viewers as that much more personal and intimate.

And while punk and its infamous personalities are familiar for their madness, there’s also another side of the movement. “Madness,” Morris says, but also the desire for expression and “expressing yourself, breaking down the barriers to get to where you want to get to.”  

We had a chance to catch the photographer at his recent London exhibition featuring some of his most iconic Sex Pistols shots, titled SID: Superman is Dead. Watch the video to hear from Dennis Morris about how he first got in with Bob Marley after skipping school, the lasting impact of the Sex Pistols on someone who experienced them intimately, and the behind-the-scenes of his fabled shot of Sid Vicious’ trashed hotel room. 

Cover Credit: KALIDE

Writer | Soyoung Park

Soyoung is a perpetual third culture kid currently in Hong Kong as Sound of Life’s Lead Editor. When not at her day job, she lives to explore and daydream about the underwater world.