"I got into photography not quite accidentally; I had always been curious about it. But my dad was kind of the family documentarian. Not in a professional way—he’s what I would call a ‘Sharper Image dad.’”

So says photographer Farrah Skeiky, who’s made a name for herself documenting a new generation of punk and DIY in Washington and Baltimore, shooting culture both “high” and "low” from renowned venues like the 9:30 Club to dark, dank basements in Columbia Heights. While her photos have appeared in such niche publications as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, she also published a book entitled Present Tense: DC Punk and DIY, Right Now, documenting the scene from 2015 to 2019. Born in Seattle, she moved to Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., while in high school. When her father fell ill, the role of family documentarian fell on her, but soon she began toting her Canon Rebel camera along to the DIY gigs she attended as a teen.

“I didn’t see myself as a cool, interesting person who played cool music in any capacity—I played upright bass in jazz band. I look back now and I’m like, that was really cool, why don’t you still do that? But as far as alternative music, punk music, different subcultures and subgenres of rock music, I didn’t feel as confident, but I still wanted to share the way I felt in those rooms and in those spaces.”

For Skeiky, that’s what it comes down to: a feeling. She’s less interested in the perfect photo with the perfect subject; she wants to make you feel like you’re in the room, smelling the stink of sweaty bodies in motion and feeling the humidity rising from their skin. Her photos are profoundly alive, images that feel like right now in perpetuity. And while Skeiky would certainly succeed in a bigger pond—like those cities we’re so intentionally snubbing in the pages of this issue—she continues to double down on the DMV (that’s local-speak for D.C./ Maryland/Virginia; see how regional we’re being?!).

“People will look at bigger cities and think that to be able to make music or art that has an impact, you need to move to one of these cities. I think there’s a lot to be said for staying where you are and making something. People will come. Don’t sleep on your own city.”

—Mandy Brownholtz