Exclusive Interview With Charles Peterson

Thank you for this exciting interview.

- Catalin Croitoru

GRUNGE SCENE

CATA CROITORU: Hello, Charles! Thank you for this exciting interview. You are one of the most famous music scene photographers in the world, mostly for capturing the then-newly emerging grunge scene. Among your iconic images, we can find intimate images of Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Your career in photography began in the mid 80s. You are well-known for your work with the Seattle-based independent record label, Sub Pop, your images were exhibited in museums and galleries around the world and your images are being featured in several important publications. This is such an impressive career! I'm sure Lens' readers would like to know how it all began.

CHARLES PETERSON: Thanks Cata. Many of the core musicians of the grunge scene and I met while in college. I went to the University of Washington, in the neighborhood known as the U-District, where many of us lived, whether attending college or not. It was populated with inexpensive old homes, perfect for parties, practice, and living cheaply. I had grown up in the suburbs of Seattle, Bothell, had developed an early interest in photography and planned on pursuing it with an art degree in college. But I also had an early interest in music such as the punk scene, and so gravitated to others like myself. The first person I met was Mark Arm, later singer in Green River and Mudhoney, who was living in the same dormitory as me on campus in the fall of 1982. We became friends and rented an apartment off-campus a couple years and a half later. He would introduce me to Bruce Pavitt (Sub Pop) who would introduce me to Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), and so it went.

C.C.: So were you shooting musicians and bands because you were attracted to their music, or because of the lifestyle you had at the time?