Philip Jones Griffiths: shining a light
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 06/03/2008
Philip Jones Griffths, the great Magnum photographer, died recently. Ella Windsor believes his Vietnam work remains as potent as ever
For 50 years he worked in over 120 countries, many of which were at war, yet Jones Griffiths would call himself an anti-war photographer.
It was his work in Vietnam which drew him the most acclaim. Vietnam Inc., his first collection of those images was published in 1971.
His study was seminal; it shone a light on the Vietnamese perspective and for many it crystallised misgivings about America’s part in the war.
His subsequent two books on Vietnam, Agent Orange and Viet Nam At Peace were the products of more than 24 further visits to record the legacy of the war for the Vietnamese people.
Agent Orange, in particular, is testament to his concern. Many of the images in this book show the lingering effects of Dioxin, the toxic by-product of the chemical defoliant known as Agent Orange, sprayed by American forces over North Vietnam. Even today Vietnamese babies are born with deformities directly linked to the deadly chemical.
Magnum co-founder Henri Cartier-Bresson said, “Not since Goya has anyone portrayed war like Philip Jones Griffiths.”
“There are various reasons to be a photographer,” Griffiths would say. “One is to try to change a situation. Another is to produce a historical document. Then there’s the personal one, which is what I’m talking about: that in a sense it becomes very much a self-educating process. And that’s not bad. In fact it’s great.”
The style of writing is very familiar . Have you written guest posts for other bloggers?
I take it you haven’t read my blog explanation. I use it as a scrapbook, hence the links to the original source etc