Blondie, Debbie Harry, 'Polka Dot'

© Chris Stein
c.1980
Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity

Debbie Harry dressed as Lillian in the film Union City in 1980. Directed by Mark Reichert, Union City is an American neo-noir crime mystery film starring Dennis Lipscomb, Everrret McGill and Debbie Harry. The band was relatively unknown in the US at the time Harry was cast, but this changed when Heart of Glass reached number one in the United States midway through filming. As Reichert later recalled, Harry was forbidden to sing on the film's soundtrack for contractual reasons, but her experiences led to the recording of the Blondie song Union City Blue.

'Oh yeah, I remember being a little kid using those little box cameras. I also had a magazine with a very evocative picture of a snowy street, and I looked at it all the time. I felt so drawn into this image even as a child. That was the photo where I first really felt that pull, that desire to capture things.' Chris Stein for Hunger

‘Stein and Harry became friends, lovers and bandmates, but he also became something of a personal photographer, capturing her every move. Stein chronicled the band’s early beginnings on camera, from the nascent New York punk scene to the international celebrities they worked with, including Andy Warhol. Like the rest of the world since, Stein was taken with Harry’s charisma, her spirit and – of course – her style.’ Sam Rogers and Susan Devaney for Vogue

'Renowned as the co-founder and guitarist of the iconic new wave band Blondie, Chris Stein’s photography is as poignant and powerful as the songs he wrote. Documenting New York from the seventies to today, he’s lived through the streets and the streets live on through him: from the city’s early punk scene to the landmarks long lost, Stein has captured cultural moments like none other. Captivated by how photography can bottle up a memory forever, his work aimed to keep things as candid as possible, from his still-bandmate and former-partner Debbie Harry to strangers on the street, the result is raw images, people at their most honest.' Kitty Robson for Hunger

Blondie co-founder, guitarist, producer, photographer and co-host of cult cable show TV Party, Chris Stein began shooting in 1968 and hasn’t put the camera down since. It’s all there on film: Warhol, Debbie Harry, the cast, the city – and its his documentary of the Big Apple throughout the 70s and 80s that remains just as looming a character in his photographic archive.

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