Of all the punk bands that hailed from Los Angeles, The Germs more than any other have attracted the most attention over the last couple years. They are the subject of at least two feature films in post-production at this very moment - one narrative, the other documentary - and are never excluded from the variety of punk rock survey films, writings and analyses. Taking photos of The Germs at the earliest of their practices was as easy and natural for me to do as breathing. So, 30 years later, when the gritty image of the band on the cover of their 7" single on What?Records, "Forming" that I photographed (for no reason beyond our friendship) is acknowledged as a symbol and even an icon of Los Angeles Punk Rock, I feel both ridiculously proud of having had the good luck to have been born at the right place and time and proud of all of Los Angeles's contributions to punk rock. California has been given short shrift in the past couple years that punk rock has enjoyed ...