Jim Marshall: Peace

FROM THE BOOK

No wonder, then, that early in its adoption as an emblem of anti-nuclear sentiment in America, [the peace symbol] should capture and hold the attention of photographer Jim Marshall. He recognized its cultural significance, and was intrigued by the symbol’s ability to morph between causes, and evade strict definition. Regardless of the ostensible subject of his photographic assignments, he documented the symbol’s appearance on subway walls and street posters, on political banners and in hippie collages. At one moment, it might be the central motif of a protest march or campus demonstration; at another, it acted almost as a secret code for those with the same political leanings. As these pages illustrate, it could be found at jazz or folk festivals; in urban squalor or festive display; linking anti-war and anti-nuclear campaigners with those who simply refused to belong to LBJ’s ‘Great Society’.

The juxtaposition of individual photographs and contact sheets in this book reflect the breadth of Jim Marshall’s interest, the keenness of his eye, and the way in which diverse cultural strands merged into one turbulent landscape in 1960s America of the 1960s. Amelia Davis, herself an award- winning photographer, worked closely with Marshall, and now curates and controls his archive. ‘He had immense curiosity’, she recalls. ‘You can see it in these contact sheets. He was always looking beyond. Another photographer who was on assignment to shoot the Newport Folk Festival would have concentrated solely on that task. But Jim always had his eyes open, to see what else was happening around him.’ She compares his contact sheets to a writer’s notebooks: an opportunity to see the fertile mind of an artist in the art of creation.

Under Marshall’s gaze fell legendary musicians such as Ray Charles and Bob Dylan; homeless refugees from 1960s consumerism; and, never far from hand, the peace symbol, and those who carried it with pride. ‘Jim is still under-appreciated as a photo-journalist,’ Amelia Davis says. ‘His philosophy was that he was a historian with a camera. His success as a photographer of jazz and rock’ n’ roll musicians means people always assume that was the only thing he did. But he was a master of his art. It astonishes me that he took these photographs using a completely manual Leica. That was a difficult camera to use, and yet he was brilliant at capturing a moment in time – whether that was a live performance, or simply something he saw on the streets or in the subway.’ The Peace project is a testament to his vision and his technical genius; and also a vivid evocation of a symbol, and a sensibility, that survived the turmoil of a remarkable decade.

The social and political advances that resulted from that decade, hardwon by those who took to the streets with banners and peace symbols aloft, seemed to be set in stone. For those who participated, it must have seemed impossible that the campaigns against militarism, imperialist adventurism, racism, sexual discrimination and the madness of nuclear proliferation would ever have to be fought again. But in these increasingly unsettled and alarming times, all the old certainties are under question and threat. Even the ultimate horror of a nuclear apocalypse is once again shadowing our world, while freedoms that have been accepted as natural for decades are being overturned and undermined.

Once again, it is time to speak truth to power; to stand up and be counted against prejudice and injustice; to challenge authoritarianism; to choose peace and love over war and hate. Jim Marshall’s photographs do not merely capture a momentous era in our collective history: they demonstrate what needs to be done, and what can be done, to ensure freedom for ourselves and those who follow us. As the sticker on the guitar case says: ‘Peace is the only shelter’. - Peter Doggett