Counterculture
Behind surfer Tony Caramanico’s vibrant journal art
A new book chronicles almost half a century of the legendary east coast surfer’s diary entries.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Photos from California’s countercultural heyday
Alien days — Back in print for the first time since 1970, Dennis Stock’s California Trip serves as a radical visual history, depicting the Sunshine State at its heady peak.
Written by: Huck
The queer polymath who pioneered ’60s counterculture
Steven Arnold — An artist, filmmaker, photographer and protégé of Salvador Dalí, Steven Arnold had many guises, mastering new mediums at will. A new film looks back at his incredible legacy.
Written by: Miss Rosen
A photographer's psychedelic trove of countercultural magic
The Family Acid — After a stint in the Vietnam War, Roger Steffens dedicated himself to a free-spirited, drug-fuelled life on the fringes of society. Luckily for us, he photographed the whole thing.
Written by: Niall Flynn
On the road with the Merry Pranksters' strange acid trip
Keep on keepin’ kool — The psychedelic '60s were ignited by Ken Kesey, a gang of misfits and a bus-load of drugs... but the experiment is far from dead.
Written by: Cyrus Shahrad
An epic encounter with John Lydon: punk's most iconic troublemaker
The Firestarter — As the face of both the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd, John Lydon has been a groundbreaking force in counterculture – always outspoken, never indifferent. Now, 40 years after kickstarting punk, he’s looking back on that path in a different light.
Written by: Cian Traynor
Venice: How a forgotten corner of ‘70s LA gave birth to modern skateboarding
Raising the ghosts of Dogtown — Writer Joe Donnelly’s essay ‘Venice Bohemia: From Abbot Kinney To The Z-Boys’ explores how the crumbling, surfer’s mecca of Venice in the 1970s gave rise to the legendary Z-Boys and skateboarding as we know it. It appears in ‘Los Angeles in the 1970s: Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mine’, a collection of essays and short stories that attempts to fill a gap in the literature about culture during one of the City of Angels’ most vibrant decades. It also includes the ‘Cruising Van Nuys’ photo essay by Rick McCloskey, featured here.
Written by: Joe Donnelly
This is what 30 years of British counterculture looks like
Exist to Resist — Matthew Smith has spent three decades documenting street culture at its rawest, from rural raves to political protests, in the face of police pressure.
Written by: Khadija Ahmed
'The engine, the motor, of Dylan’s best work is empathy'
Greil Marcus on Bob Dylan — To celebrate Bob Dylan being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, we dug out this interview with Greil Marcus on Bob Dylan from Huck 40 - The Cat Power Issue.
Written by: Shelley Jones
The Teddy Boys: Britain’s original teenage rebels
Rock'n'roll riot-starters — Magnum photographer Chris Steele-Perkins reflects on the enduring legacy of The Teds as his classic documentary series goes on display for the first time in nearly 40 years.
Written by: Alex King
The countercultural manifesto of rasta punk Don Letts
'The minute you want what the Man is offering, you’re fucked.' — To celebrate 10 years of Huck, we're digging through the archives to unearth our favourite stories. For Huck 22: The Counterculture Issue, the 'visual terrorist' who introduced reggae to punk revealed why great things happen when worlds collide.
Written by: Cian Traynor
Busting myths and reminiscing with Hunter S. Thompson's son
Son of a Gun — Hunter S. Thompson lived his life on the verge, surrounded by guns, booze and drugs, and people who never made it. But the gonzo persona was just one layer of a man who put writing before anything else. Now his son, Juan F. Thompson, is peeling back the myth of an icon who once famously said: never turn your back on fear.
Written by: Daniel Dylan Wray