Photographer's Paradise: Turbulent America 1960-1990

Description

The photographs that make up this first book by renowned photojournalist Jean-Pierre Laffont serve as a powerful and provocative examination of the American dream. For nearly three decades, Laffont travelled the breadth of the United States, a true embodiment of American freedom. Documenting the country in all of its facets - from national crises and unsightly social injustices to heartfelt protest and solidarity, the photographer took full advantage of the access granted to him by the world's greatest democracy. He travelled all fifty of the United States to document a broad swath of the country's fabric, capturing America through some of its most turbulent eras. From the electric chair at Sing Sing to Women's Jello Wrestling, the Watkins Glen rock festival to the Kent State shooting protest in Washington DC, Laffont was front and centre to history as it unfolded. Never working on assignment, Laffont chased stories of his own volition with a lens that was at once compassionate, humanistic, and unflinching. Taken together, these pages tell the story of the chaotic, often painful, birth of twenty-first-century America - a place where a black president, gay marriage, and women executives have become the new norm. Photographer's Paradise reminds us of the power of the freedom of speech, as Laffont speaks truth to power through his camera lens.

Jean Pierre Laffont (born January 29, 1935, in Algeria) first arrived in the United States in 1965 as staff photographer for Status Magazine and U.S. Correspondent for the French-based agency, Reporters Associes. In 1969, Laffont became the first Foreign Correspondent for the Gamma Agency and founded the U.S. bureau of Gamma with his wife, Eliane. In 1973, the Laffonts co-founded Sygma Photo News. His work has appeared in all major publications worldwide including Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, Paris Match, Figaro Magazine, Stern, Bunte, Epoca, and The Sunday Times Magazine, among others. Laffont was awarded The Madeleine Ross Award and the World Press Award for the work he did documenting child labour in the 1970s. In 1996, Laffont was awarded the French National order "Chevalier des Arts & Lettres." Sir Harold Matthew Evans (born 28 June 1928) is a British-born journalist and writer who was editor of The Sunday Times. He has held leading positions in journalism with US News and World Report, The Atlantic Monthly, and the New York Daily News. In 1986 he founded Conde Nast Traveler. He has written various books on history and journalism, including The American Century (1998). Since 2001, Evans has served as editor-at-large of The Week Magazine and since 2005, he has been a contributor to The Guardian and BBC Radio 4. In 2011 Sir Harold Evans was appointed editor-at-large of the Reuters news agency.

Photographer's Paradise: Turbulent America 1960-1990 is a big heavy book whose weight is metaphorically reflected in the images it contains. It is a gift to view this collection of what one photographer bore witness to during a period of immense change in the US, narrated through images, captions, and extended vignettes.--Margaret Mitchell "Shutter Hub, November 3, 2015 "