Philip Jones Griffiths dies
One of the leading lights of British photojournalism has finally been extinguished. Diane Smyth revisits the remarkable career of the Welsh maestro
Philip Jones Griffiths, the Magnum photographer whose images of the Vietnam War helped turn the tide of public opinion in the US, died at home in London on Wednesday (19 March), following a long illness from cancer.
His 1971 book, Vietnam Inc, included harrowing images of a blackened burn victim, a woman's frail body splattered with blood and a South Vietnamese boy in army fatigues, showing the brutal and devastating effects of the war on the Vietnamese people and culture. But it also captured rural life and village collectivism away from the war zones, in an attempt to show why America's campaign was bound to fail.
'All journalists share two concerns: first, for the truth; second for the suffering of innocents,' he stated in aninterview earlier this year. 'No man can see what I've seen and not be moved to tell others about it.'
Griffiths was born in Rhuddlan, Wales in 1936, and became a photographer after a short career in pharmacy. He started working for The Guardian whilst working nights at a London chemist, becoming a full-time freelance for The Observer in 1961. 'When I look back on my work there, more than half the articles were projects I suggested myself,' he told BJP in May 2007. 'There is nothing an editor likes better than a photographer coming in and saying, "I've got these pics" or "I've got this idea".'
By 1962 he had been sent to North Africa, where he uncovered the brutal treatment of Algerian nationalists by the French military. From Algeria he moved to Central Africa, then Asia, working in Vietnam from 1966 to 1971. He remained committed to Vietnam and neighbouring Cambodia for the rest of his life, returning 26 times after peace was declared and publishing two further books; Agent Orange (2003), which looked at the effects of chemical warfare; and Vietnam at Peace (2005), which studied the effects of the war and globalisation on the population.
But Griffiths also worked in more than 120 other countries over his lifetime, covering the Yom Kippur War and conflict in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, the US invasion of Grenada and the Sudanese refugee crisis in the 1980s.
Influenced early on by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Griffiths became an associate member of Magnum Photos in 1966 and a full member in 1971. In 1980 he moved to New York to become president of the agency, a post he held for a record five years.
In his latter years he criticised the 'triviality' which he believed had crept into Magnum, but he remained committed to photojournalism to the end. 'I am not depressed by the state of photojournalism today,' he told BJP in May 2007. 'It is obvious that photography is more powerful than ever before. The Abu Graib pictures, for example, did enormous damage to America's intentions in Iraq.'
In one of his last interviews, for The Independent this January, he added: 'Journalism is about obliterating distances, bringing far away things closer home and impressing it on peoples' senses. You excite your humanity every time you take a photo; lose your humanity and you stop being able to judge, to know, to see.'
Griffiths is survived by two daughters, Katherine Holden of London and Fenella Ferrato of New York and Damascus. He never married, reportedly because he 'would never let bourgeois society dictate my behaviour'.
Above: Battle for Saigon, Vietnam 1968 (c) Philip Jones Griffiths/Magnum Photos.
Magnum tributes
Within Magnum, he was one person who believed in keeping the faith in photojournalism. He considered it the one form of serious photography. He was always adamant about the true original founding of Magnum but he was a very controversial figure within the agency. He was always at the forefront of any moral argument there, and was unafraid of damning anyone drifting away to the dark side.
His work over the years sort of speaks for itself. He never wavered, while others would be tempted by advertising and commercial photography. He never particularly chased the commercial side of photography. He persisted right till the end. Just one week ago, he was working on the layout of his latest book (on Cambodia).
Having trained as a pharmacist, he had great technical abilities in all aspects of photography. I will miss him as he was always there to give me advice and it would always be good advice. He was also generous to his friends. He was kind enough to let me and my then-pregnant wife to share an apartment for a year.
Ian Berry, Magnum colleague
George admired Philip for his wisdom and for his wit, and most of all for his great stand against war, wherever it takes place. They spoke the same language (not Welsh).
Jinx Rodger, widow of Magnum founder George Rodger
He has been a powerful irritant, inspiration and example in my life, for more than 40 years. Whenever he chided he always did so with a twinkle in his eye. I can't believe his large frame has actually gone. But few leave such a legacy. Diolch am bopeth.
David Hurn, Magnum colleague.
