PHILIP JONES GRIFFITHS DIES

• Legendary Photojournalist Philip Jones Griffiths dies at 72 –
by Parinita Salian

British photographer Philip Jones Griffiths, best known for his incisive coverage of the Vietnam war, passed away on Tuesday, March 19 at his home in London. Jones Griffiths, a longtime member and former president of the prestigious Magnum photo agency had been battling cancer. [expand story >>>]

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. From 1966 to 1971, Jones Griffiths reported on the Vietnam War. His influential book, Vietnam Inc., helped turn US public opinion against the conflict. He returned to Vietnam numerous times in the 1980s and 1990s to document the country's recovery. Those images were collected in the books Agent Orange – Collateral Damage in Vietnam (2003) and Vietnam at Peace (2005).



In a career that took him to more than a hundred countries, Jones Griffiths covered everything from Buddhism in Cambodia, drought in India, and poverty in Texas to the legacy of the Gulf war in Kuwait. You can see some of his work on the frontlines in the YouTube clip above.

With his death we have lost one of the greatest photographers and journalists of our time. But his work will live on to be a true inspiration for the many emerging photojournalists in the world. [add comment]