Fuck you Heroes

Ice T
'When Friedman locks onto something it's absolutely scarey. He's one relentless motherfucker.'

C.R. Steyck III
'Truth and beauty reside where ever one is lucky enough to find them. Glen E. Friedman works overtime attempting to ferret them out and present their essential characteristics in a manner that others can learn from. This man's mission is to distill it all down and to then serve it straight up and right at you.'

Tony Alva
'Friedman's always been crazy'

Book Description
Now in it's second printing, Fuck You Heroes is photographer Glen E. Friedman's uncompromising look at the radicals of youth culture in the extreme worlds of skateboarding, punk and rap. From day one behind his camera, Friedman has had an unerring ability to be in the right place ahead of everybody else. He was a teenaged photographer for 'Thrasher' and 'Skateboarder' magazines, he created the seminal one-hit punk fanzine 'My Rules', worked with Black Flag and Suicidal Tendencies in their early days, wrote for Maximum Rock & Roll, did street promotion for Def Jam's west coast office and shot sleeve photos for everyone from Minor Threat to Public Enemy. This book presents the photographic distillation of Glen's ethic: it's about the perfect shots of the people who live by the touchstones of intensity and integrity.

From the Inside Flap
It's all about energy. There are infinite means and methods, but with the best in any field, it is energy that is the constant. It's what makes the great stuff great, and the rest stand to the side. Perhaps the truest characteristic of human nature is the need to push it further than the last bunch did. Sometimes it's the only reason I can find for getting up in the morning. The ones who feel the need to break through barriers, who have nothing but contempt for limitations and average expectations; this book captures them in their element. Glen E. Friedman has been capturing outbursts of energy for nearly two decades. I knew Glen's work well before I met him. All my friends andI used to stare at his photos in skate magazines and wonder how he got that shot at that moment. After knowing Glen for over 13 years, I understand how he does it. Glen is an energy addict. He captured the peak era of the original heavy "Dogtown" street skaters. He worked on the first Black Flag video. He produced the first Suicidal Tendencies album. He intoduced me to the Beastie Boys when they only had a 7" single out. He gave me a tape of Public Enemy when Chuck D was DJ'ing in college. He documented the rise of the mighty Def Jam label and some of the musicians who changed the face of music forever. The bottom line is he was there at the beginning of so much stuff it's not funny. Art meets action. Art becomes action. There are no admitted heroes here. Just those who have and know what to do with it. It's all about energy. Glen works on instinct. He gets it, he's got it. The photos contained here are the evidence. (Henry Rollins, 1994)


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