Prior to the publication of his 2002 photo book, Jim Jocoy had hardly picked up his camera in 20-plus years. Jocoy became involved in the budding California punk scene as a student at UC Santa Cruz in the 1970s. After he dropped out, he spent his days working at a copy store and his nights hauling his camera to punk shows to photograph musicians and fans alike. His snapshots of San Francisco and LA punks capture a lighthearted energy that stands in contrast to the hard-edged grit of the New York and U.K. scenes. His images, mostly solo shots taken in and around music venues, read like baseball cards of punk rock’s MVPs or a pictorial document of the era’s most innovative fashion. Jocoy’s book of punk photos, We’re Desperate, is in many ways a tribute to the women of punk: Its title, for instance, is derived from a 1981 track by X, the electric LA band co-fronted by a woman. His photographs of women—including portraits of X’s female singer, Exene Cervenka, as well as anonymous, enthusiastic fans—present them as more than a subgroup within punk, but as vital members of the movement.