Joey Ramone of the Ramones

“The scene at CBGB was always very relaxed before, after, and in-between shows. So talking to and getting to know Joey was easy since he hung out there even when he wasn’t performing. My hope was to create a true portrait of Joey, so one night after the band returned from some England dates, I approached Joey; he asked if his cat could be in the photo…? I snapped “sure,” and two minutes later we had rounded the corner from CB’s and were climbing up the face of the ground floor store’s accordion grating to his second-floor apartment window (“I left my key inside”). I always wondered why Joey only wore those skinny white Keds sneakers, until I watched him climb 16 feet straight up that diamond-notched wall of steel like he was walking up an escalator. Can you tell that his cat—“Cat”—was happy for the attention?”

Joey Ramone at home (with “Cat”) in New York, 1978.