A half-century of social documentary from the acclaimed American photographer, with previously unseen works
In this deeply personal book, Eugene Richards (born 1944) excavated a collection of more than 50 years of mostly unseen photographs—from his earliest pictures of sharecropper life in the Arkansas Delta to the present. In the midst of a fraught political climate—pandemic, rise in gun violence, polarized politics and the devastation in Beirut—Richards found himself meditating on what it means to make socially conscious documentary photography today. Upon his son’s suggestion, he began to post his photographs on social media, sifting through dusty binders of contact sheets—photographs taken for a community newspaper, on assignment for magazines, as a volunteer for human rights organizations, when wandering alone and at home with his family—and scanning the negatives. In This Brief Life compiles these works, along with personal commentary and extensive captions by the photographer.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Smithsonian
Donny Bajohr
The experiences are vast, from intimate moments in hospital rooms showing births, injuries and recoveries to scenes in the wetlands of northern Nigeria and the harsh farming landscape of South Dakota’s Gann Valley.
Smithsonian
Donny Bajohr
The experiences are vast, from intimate moments in hospital rooms showing births, injuries and recoveries to scenes in the wetlands of northern Nigeria and the harsh farming landscape of South Dakota’s Gann Valley.
F-Stop
Cary Benbow
His work is not a basic documentation of despair; it is a celebration of resilience. It is seen in the stoic faces of the impoverished, the defiant gazes of civil rights activists, and the quiet strength of people living one day to the next. There is an undercurrent of hope. In This Brief Life depicts a visual narrative that resonates with the adamant human spirit, an ode to those who persist against the odds.
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FORMAT: Hbk, 10 x 10 in. / 180 pgs / 120 duotone. LIST PRICE: U.S. $65.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $94 GBP £57.00 ISBN: 9780991218929 PUBLISHER: Many Voices Press AVAILABLE: 9/5/2023 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by Many Voices Press. Text by Eugene Richards.
A half-century of social documentary from the acclaimed American photographer, with previously unseen works
In this deeply personal book, Eugene Richards (born 1944) excavated a collection of more than 50 years of mostly unseen photographs—from his earliest pictures of sharecropper life in the Arkansas Delta to the present. In the midst of a fraught political climate—pandemic, rise in gun violence, polarized politics and the devastation in Beirut—Richards found himself meditating on what it means to make socially conscious documentary photography today. Upon his son’s suggestion, he began to post his photographs on social media, sifting through dusty binders of contact sheets—photographs taken for a community newspaper, on assignment for magazines, as a volunteer for human rights organizations, when wandering alone and at home with his family—and scanning the negatives.
In This Brief Life compiles these works, along with personal commentary and extensive captions by the photographer.
