Michael Grecco has been taking photographs for a very long time. He began his career in the blizzard of 1978 as a stringer for the Associated Press, literally skiing into the office for an assignment. He had his first photo published in 1978 and never looked back.
Last October, he joined forces with the Huntsville Museum of Art in Huntsville, AL, for "Days of Punk," an exhibit that blended more than 100 of his photos of punk rock icons alongside several video experiences. The memorable sounds of the aggressive music genre were brought to life by Holosonics Audio Spotlight AS-16iX speakers into an immersive experience taking visitors to a time and place when music was raw and revolutionary.
This isn't simply a collection of photos Grecco collected over his professional career. Around the same time, he walked into the Rathskeller in Kenmore Square, the music club known as The Rat that was a player in launching the Boston punk scene, and everything changed. "Here you are in this community that you walk into of very accepting wild punkers and people who are into alternative music," Grecco recalled. "Suddenly, I had this dual life: I was a photojournalist during the day, and I was a club kid at night."
As a photojournalist, he was able to use his access to develop his photography skills, and while doing so, captured some of punk's biggest names in their early years, including The Clash, Joan Jett, and Billy Idol. To truly do justice to an exhibit like this, it would take more than a few frames and mounts. "You have a show that's based on music," Grecco said. "We want it to be an experience, not just hanging the pictures on the wall that don't say anything."
Punk Rock Passion Project
There have been five shows since the "Days of Punk" tour began in Spain circa 2022. The exhibit has traveled to two European countries and three museums in the United States, with Huntsville its most recent stop. (The exhibit closes on Feb. 1.)
"'Days of Punk' came to us through Terra Esplendida, a traveling exhibition company based in Portugal," explained Natalie A. Mault Mead, chief curator, Huntsville Museum of Art. "The concept immediately caught our attention because it had been several years since we featured a photography exhibition, and the punk movement played such a pivotal role in shaping American art and culture. Presenting Michael Grecco’s photographs here felt like the perfect opportunity to explore that era’s energy and its influence."
Per Mead, the exhibit uses two Optoma projectors, with the short throw playing a moving video of Grecco's photographs alongside punk music posters and a life-sized projected urinal to give the experience of listening to a concert at a venue with the bathroom door closed. The long throw shows clips of three punk bands in concert. There are also three standard monitors, two showing videos recorded by and about Michael Grecco and the latter shows the video response to "What is Punk?"
Punk music, of course, was raw and fast, born from the angst of poppier rock 'n' roll and disco. While Grecco's photos visually bring visitors to the era in New York City and Boston where some of punk's biggest icons were began, having the right music in the background could provide a sense of nostalgia that immersive exhibits can.
Having the right music to bring the photos to life was pivotal in enhancing the experience. With two members of the Boston-based punk band Mission of Burma, Grecco created six soundscapes for the experience. The soundscapes support the many photographs around the exhibit, but also the video portion as well.
As Mead explained, Holosonics speakers were the choice to support everything in the exhibit. David Reyes, head of exhibition installation and design for the museum, and Samantha Tallichet, exhibitions assistant, did the temporary installation themselves. Holosonics worked collaboratively on the project, providing technical guidance and application expertise to ensure the Audio Spotlight system was implemented effectively within the exhibit design.
Music Tells the Story
To really capture the experience, Grecco wanted to have music that is unique to each area, and not one song playing overhead. That is where the Audio Spotlight speakers come into play. Grecco, who has been named a "lighting master," was blown away by the idea that sound, not just lights, could serve as a spotlight as well. "I use spotlights all the time, but I couldn't imagine that you can do a sound version of that," he said. "So, it was exciting."
Cristofer Osden, technical sales and marketing manager, Holosonics, explained that the Audio Spotlight AS-16iX speakers provided a good balance of narrow coverage that was well aligned to a single listener per placement, as well as effective energy output for the intended audio content. "The AS-16iX was the ideal solution because the exhibit required multiple, distinct audio experiences within a shared gallery space, without sound bleeding between displays," Osden added. "Each photographic moment in 'Days of Punk' had its own sonic identity, and traditional speakers simply wouldn’t allow that level of separation without headphones or isolated rooms."
For Grecco, it wasn't simply about the sound, but the visual experience as well. "I did a lot of research in figuring out how we were going to do this," he said. "Traditional museums use those clear domes, and there's a speaker in it, and the dome contains the sound. You stand in front of a monitor, and the sound comes down right above your head. But visually, that interrupts everything. Visually, you see that dangling down. I was looking for solutions that could ship easily, that had a relatively small form factor, and sounded good."
The Audio Spotlight achieved all those goals, and Mead said "Days of Punk" quickly became one of the museum's most popular exhibits. "Visitors consistently comment on how the sound design completes the experience," she explained. "The focused, immersive audio transports guests into the time and place of the photographs, giving context to the visuals without distracting them from [the photos]. It helps create an atmosphere that feels authentic, energetic, and true to the spirit of the punk movement."
"Being part of Days of Punk is meaningful for Holosonics because it demonstrates how directional audio can deepen cultural storytelling, not just deliver sound," Osden concluded. "The exhibit doesn’t simply present the spirit of punk—it allows visitors to experience it in a way that feels personal, authentic, and directly tied to the visuals. With both the photographer and the soundscape artists having been deeply rooted in the Boston music scene—mere minutes away from our Watertown, MA HQ—the project carried a strong sense of place that resonated with us, especially given just how many people at Holosonics are musicians themselves, myself included. When a project treats music as an integral part of the story, not just background sound, it naturally resonates with our team."
