Photographer Joe Stevens had two shows in Portsmouth in 2005. The first was to coincide with the documentary “End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones” when it played at The Music Hall. The second was “The Joe Show” at Caffé Kilim. Both displayed his signature sexy, funny and joyous rock ’n’ roll photography spanning from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s, when he traveled the world shooting for top music magazines.

Think of anyone who was anyone during those decades, and you’ll get a sense of whom he’s photographed: David Bowie, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, The Ramones, The Clash, Debbie Harry… There were days when one of his employers, New Musical Express, would send him on four photo shoots in London, and then he’d be off to Paris the next day.

How big is his archive, exactly? Stevens, who still makes a living selling these images, says it’s big enough to choke a horse.

Fifteen rarely printed black and white and color photos from that collection, plus a few favorites, are on view in “Hung,” currently at The Press Room, 77 Daniel St., Portsmouth. The show features photographs of the Rolling Stones, Queen, X, Johnny Cash, Al Capone’s chauffeur and more.
Prices range from $150-$250—“I keep ’em cheap because people don’t have any money, and I want people to be able to afford them,” he says.

You can meet Stevens and hear some of his stories at a reception on Saturday, Feb. 4 from 5 to 9 p.m.

What’s your philosophy of photography?
I try to get a lot of fun into it and some humor. My standards are other photographers, some of them are still around and some are not. You see the classic Janis Joplin photograph, or Hendrix... I try to do at least that (good composition, good exposure, emotion) and then add some Joe Stevens to it. Maybe they’re rolling their eyes, or it’s sexy.

What’s your trick?
Patience. And anticipation. That something is going to happen. That you’re almost predicting and you have to wait for it to happen. It may not.
Often, I try to get people looking really loopy. Or stunned, or stupid, or silly. Maybe they’re hitting on the interviewer. Looking sexual. Looking alive. … Rod Stewart, when he was very young, you could see it in his eyes, he was hitting on anything in a skirt. You couldn’t see her in the photograph but you could see it in his eyes, he was getting ready to hit. The same was true with David Bowie, or Brian Ferry. Wolves. They were like wolves.

How has that approach changed over time?
You get better at it. When you’re studying someone before you take pictures, you pick up on a whole bunch of things because you’ve been watching for years. When you finally start taking pictures, you can really rip … sometimes in the first five frames, I know I’ve got it.

When you look back at it all, what do you think?
I lucked out. I came from Queens, with very little education. My father was an art assessor for a gallery, and he turned me on to using my eyes, but I was headed to Attica state prison with all the guys who were in my high school. They’ve probably just finished long stretches now or are in the grave.