Touch Me I'm Sick

When I close my eyes and think about the early 90's rock scene, I see Charles Peterson's photographs. I remember going to record stores and buying albums solely on his cover shot - blurred arms, swooshing lights, flailing hair. The cover photographs were so powerful that I could almost feel the greatness of the music inside the sleeve. Nirvana, Mudhoney, L7... fantastic bands captured live in amazing black and white.In "Touch Me I'm Sick" you get some of the famous photos we all know and also tons that have never been released. These are the ones that had me in awe. Seeing ten year old photos for the first time of bands I love, it's like a treasure trove! I am so happy that Charles Peterson took these photos and that he continues to share them with us. If I could give this book higher than 5 stars, I certainly would.

Unlike the other reviewers of this work, I was not there. I just love the artful quality photos in a book that is a collection item. The detail of the photos and the quality of the printing make this a work to savor. This is a forever book, should be on all shelves of collectors of fine photography.

A divine marriage of vision, design and subject matter. Peterson's wild, free and spontaneous shooting style provides the perfect visual metaphor for the beer-stained and adrenaline-stoked Seattle grunge era. His pictures look like the music sounds - reckless, courageous, and always threatening to spin completely out of control.An aggresive book design and a minimum of text keeps the emphasis where it belongs - on the music's energy and the exhilarating, ritual co-dependence of performers and fans. You can't slam out power chords on a Leica M6 - but Peterson comes closer than any other "Rock" photographer at pulling it off.DSR

This book is so much more than a photographic history of "grunge." It transcends rock photography. The book doesn't document pose -- it documents release. It's a book about youth, about passion, and about rebellion. Remember them?Probably not. There's more genuine passion on each page of this book than I've seen in the last five years of live shows and clubs. Now that we're in the dog days of another dark presidency, maybe the kids will get pissed off again, and start making a racket. Pill-popping techno is fun and all, but it just doesn't have the intensity that this book documents. There are photos of some of the luminaries of the period, sure, but to me the unending fascination is with the audiences. Whether it's a large, seething, sweating mass or the huddled few at a loft show, there's kinetic energy jumping off the page. You can feel it. There's a timelessness that adds a sense of possibility, that brings a smile as you turn the pages.Buy the book, write a song, play a show. Beats the hell out of sitting around and reminiscing.

I think of Charles Peterson as the best war photographer who never had a war to go to. Instead, he settled for documenting the chaos and insanity of the Seattle music scene as it progressed from a drunken neighborhood loser's club to the worldwide rock phenomenon of the early 90's, and back again. Charles was on the front line with his camera loaded for the whole thing. All of Charles' trademarks are in this book ... flying hair, blurred limbs, and gallons of sweat and beer. There's also a level of insight in this collection of photos that's only possible when the era is viewed from a safe distance. These photos are indifferent to the shifting priorities of Hollywood. Everyone included in this book is there because they're interesting ... and it shows that some dude who just got off a late shift at Kinko's can be just as fascinating as the biggest stars in the world. In fact, in this book, they're often the same person snapped by Charles a year apart.