Philip Jones Griffiths - Air date: 09-05-05

Born in Rhuddlan, Wales, Jones Griffiths studied pharmacy in Liverpool and practiced in London while photographing part time for the Manchester Guardian. In 1961 he became a full-time freelancer for the London Observer. He covered the Algerian War in 1962 then became based in Central Africa, moving from there to Asia. He photographed in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968. He went back to Vietnam in 1970 and became famous for his 1971 book on the war, Vietnam Inc. Philip Jones Griffiths (b. 1936) is a Welsh-born photojournalist known for his coverage of the Vietnam war. Griffiths studied pharmacy but started as a freelance photographer in 1961, traveling to Algeria in 1962. He arrived in Vietnam in 1966, working for the Magnum agency. Magnum found his images difficult to sell to American magazines, as they concentrated on the suffering of the Vietnamese people and reflected Griffiths's view of the war as an episode in the continuing decolonisation of former European possessions. He was able to get a 'scoop' that the American outlets liked, photographs of Jackie Kennedy vacationing with a male friend in Cambodia. The proceeds of these photos enabled him to continue his coverage of Vietnam and to publish Vietnam Inc. in 1971. The book had a major influence on American perceptions of the war,[1] and became a classic of photojournalism. In 2001 the book was reprinted with a foreword by Noam Chomsky. Subsequent books have included Dark Odyssey, a collection of Griffiths's best pictures, and Agent Orange, dealing with the impact of the US defoliant Agent Orange on postwar generations in Vietnam.

Channel: People & Blogs
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: haroldchanner

Length: 58:12
Rating: 5.00
Views: 2472

Tags: Agent  Crimes  Human  Magnum  Orange  Rights  Vietnam  War  

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