Steve Pyke Cyberpunk Portraits
Steve Pyke is an English photographer who covered the early cyberpunk scene. Pyke writes, “Cyberpunks, a small subculture, influenced by the work of the author William Gibson and particularly the film Bladerunner, existed in London in the early 1990s. I became interested and photographed a series of about fifty portraits in my studio over a short period.” Here’s a link to his image gallery, which features 16 portraits. I love his clean, streamlined, almost anthropological portraits of this small sub-genre. There’s something really charming about this original incarnation of the cyber aesthetic.
One thing I found really interesting about this series that almost half the people in the pictures have some sort of lenses concealing their eyes. This makes sense, because mirrorshades were one of the strongest symbols of cyberpunk writing from the late 80s and early 90s, starting with Molly in Neuromancer. This is why everyone in The Matrix also wears mirrored shades as an homage.
Here are the rest of Steve Pyke’s Cyberpunk Portraits.
October 12th, 2007 at 2:10 am
Stellar–I’ve never seen these before, but they capture for me the very essence of cyberpunk…untainted by dance club trends or fear of seeming excessive. As lovely as oxygen tech can be, I seriously heart the grime and D.I.Y elements of cyberpunk’s early look, and Steve Pyke really gets it.
Wonder how much he wants for prints…
April 19th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Very cool indeed. William Gibson and Steve Pike played a significant role in my life when i was a kid. They have most definitely inspired and influenced me in every aspect of life especially art and music and I have to agree with Libby that William’s portraits are pure and original. I rly do miss the 80’s when industrial music was still good.