Lucian Perkins's photo book Hard Art: DC 1979 documents four early punk and hardcore shows in Washington DC in 1979. Perkins was an intern at the time, and he was not a part of the scene, meaning that while shooting the bands – which included Bad Brains, Trenchmouth and others – he also turned his camera to the audience, the floor and the walls of the venues.

The four shows included in the book are: Bad Brains and Trenchmouth at Valley Green Housing Complex on 9 September 1979; Bad Brains and The Slickee Boys at Hard Art Gallery on 15 September 1979; and two shows at Madam Organs Artist's Cooperative, on 11 November 1979 and 25–26 January 1980, the first with DOA, Tru Fax & The Insaniacs and Brick Bats (aka Trenchmouth), the second a two night stint with Bad Brains, Trenchmouth and The Teen Idles.

All images taken from Hard Art, DC 1979. All photographs by Lucian Perkins. Some images from the book were also published as part of our Hardcore Primer in The Wire 349.