Philip Jones Griffiths

Philip Jones Griffiths
Born	(1936-02-18)18 February 1936 Rhuddlan, Wales
Died	19 March 2008(2008-03-19) (aged 72) London, England
Nationality	UK
Occupation	Photojournalism
Website
Magnum Photos

Philip Jones Griffiths (18 February 1936 – 19 March 2008) was a Welsh photojournalist known for his coverage of the Vietnam war.

“	The first picture of his I ever saw was during a lecture at the Rhyl camera club. I was 16 and the speaker was Emrys Jones. He projected the picture upside down. Deliberately, to disregard the subject matter to reveal the composition. It's a lesson I've never forgotten.	”
—Philip Jones Griffiths on his idol, and later colleague, Henri Cartier-Bresson.[1][2]

“	Not since Goya has anyone portrayed war like Philip Jones Griffiths.	”
—Henri Cartier-Bresson on Philip Jones Griffiths[1]

Biography

Jones Griffiths was born in Rhuddlan, to Joseph Griffiths, who supervised the local trucking service of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and Catherine Jones, Rhuddlan's district nurse, who ran a small maternity clinic at home.^[3] He studied pharmacy in Liverpool and worked in London as the night manager at the Piccadilly branch of Boots, while also working as a part-time photographer for the Manchester Guardian.^[4][5]

His first photograph was of a friend, taken with the family Brownie in a rowboat off Holyhead.^[2]

Jones Griffiths never married, saying it was a "bourgeois" notion, but that he had had "significant" relationships.^[2][6] Survived by Fanella Ferrato and Katherine Holden, his daughters from long-term relationships with Donna Ferrato and Heather Holden. He died from cancer on March 19, 2008.^[7][8][9][1]

Journalist John Pilger wrote in tribute to Griffiths soon after his death: "I never met a foreigner who cared as wisely for the Vietnamese, or about ordinary people everywhere under the heel of great power, as Philip Jones Griffiths. He was the greatest photographer and one of the finest journalists of my lifetime, and a humanitarian to match…. His photographs of ordinary people, from his beloved Wales to Vietnam and the shadows of Cambodia, make you realise who the true heroes are. He was one of them."^[10]

Career

Griffiths started work as a full-time freelance photographer in 1961 for the Observer, travelling to Algeria in 1962. He arrived in Vietnam in 1966, working for the Magnum agency.^[9]

Magnum found his images difficult to sell to American magazines, as they concentrated on the suffering of the Vietnamese people and reflected his view of the war as an episode in the continuing decolonisation of former European possessions. However, he was eventually able to get a scoop that the American outlets liked: photographs of Jackie Kennedy vacationing with a male friend in Cambodia. The proceeds from these photos enabled him to continue his coverage of Vietnam and to publish Vietnam Inc. in 1971.

Vietnam Inc. had a major influence on American perceptions of the war, and became a classic of photojournalism.^[11][12] The book was the result of Griffiths' three years work in the country and it stands as one of the most detailed surveys of any conflict, including descriptions of the horrors of the war as well as a study of Vietnamese rural life and views from serving American soldiers. Probably one of its most quoted passages is of a US army source discussing napalm:

‘We sure are pleased with those backroom boys at Dow. The original product wasn’t so hot - if the gooks were quick they could scrape it off. So the boys started adding polystyrene - now it sticks like shit to a blanket. But if the gooks jumped under water it stopped burning, so they started adding Willie Peter (white phosphorus) so’s to make it burn better. And just one drop is enough, it’ll keep on burning right down to the bone so they die anyway from phosphorus poisoning.’^[13]

The South Vietnamese president, Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, criticised Griffiths' work, remarking "Let me tell you there are many people I don't want back in my country, but I can assure you Mr. Griffiths name is at the top of the list."^[4]

In 1973, Griffiths covered the Yom Kippur War. He then worked in Cambodia from 1973 to 1975. In 1980, he became the president of Magnum, a position he then held for five years. In 2001 Vietnam Inc. was reprinted with a foreword by Noam Chomsky. Subsequent books have included Dark Odyssey, a collection of his best pictures, and Agent Orange, dealing with the impact of the US defoliant Agent Orange on postwar generations in Vietnam.

Philip Jones Griffiths Foundation for the Study of War

After becoming aware of his terminal condition, Jones Griffiths launched a foundation to preserve his archives. His daughters helm the foundation, which as of July 2008 lacked a permanent home.^[14]

Bibliography

• Philip Jones Griffiths (2006) [1971]. Vietnam, Inc.. Phaidon Press. ISBN 978-0-7148-4603-3. 
• Philip Jones Griffiths (1996). Dark Odyssey. Aperture. ISBN 978-0-89381-645-2. 
• Philip Jones Griffiths (2004). Agent Orange: Collateral Damage in Vietnam. Trolley Books. ISBN 978-1-904563-05-1. 
• Philip Jones Griffiths (2005). Vietnam At Peace. Trolley Books. ISBN 978-1-904563-38-9. 
• Philip Jones Griffiths (2008). Recollections. Trolley Books. ISBN 978-1-904563-70-9. 

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Franklin, Stuart (2008-03-19). "Philip Jones Griffiths 1936-2008". Magnum Photos. 
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Brockway, Anthony (2004-06-01). "Philip Jones Griffiths, an interview". Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
3. ↑ Jones Griffiths, Philip (1996). Dark Odyssey. Aperture. ISBN 978-0-89381-645-2.  The introduction by Murray Sayle continues "In the Welsh manner, Philip uses the name of both his parents, to distinguish himself from all the other Joneses and Griffithses of the neighbourhood."
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Harrison, Graham (2008-05-03). "Philip Jones Griffiths". Photo Histories, the photographers' history of photography. Photo Histories. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
5. ↑ Hopkinson, Amanda (2008-03-24). "Guardian Obituary". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-02-20. 
6. ↑ Hopkinson, Amanda (2008-03-24). "Obituary: Philip Jones Griffiths". Guardian (London). Retrieved 2008-07-14. 
7. ↑ Winslow, Donald R. (2008-03-19). "Philip Jones Griffiths Dies In London". NPPA. Retrieved 2008-07-14. 
8. ↑ Kennedy, Randy (2008-03-20). "Philip Jones Griffiths, Photographer, Dies at 72". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-03. 
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Agence France-Presse (2008-03-19). "War photographer Philip Jones Griffith dies at 72". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
10. ↑ Pilger, John. A tribute to Philip Jones Griffiths, who understood war & peace, & people. March 26, 2008. Accessed July 2008.
11. ↑ "Vietnam Inc., Part I: A Photo-Journey Through the Villages, Fields, and Alleys of a Devastated Nation", Democracy Now!, 23 January 2002.
12. ↑ "Vietnam Inc., Part II: A Photo-Journey through the Villages, Fields, and Alleys of a Devastated Nation", Democracy Now!, 24 January 2002.
13. ↑ Griffiths, Philip Jones (1971). Vietnam Inc.. New York: Collier-Macmillan. 
14. ↑ "Welsh home for PJG's archive?". British Journal of Photography. 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2008-07-14. 

External links

• Interview with Philip Jones Griffiths
• Point and Shoot, Magnum in Motion
• Blood, Nails and Prayers, Magnum in Motion
• 50 Years on the Frontlines, Magnum

v t e Vietnam War correspondents Print journalists R.W. Apple Peter Arnett Michael Birch Peter Braestrup Malcolm Browne Wilfred Burchett Dickey Chapelle Robert Elegant Gloria Emerson Bernard Fall Frances FitzGerald Sylvana Foa Joseph Galloway Martha Gellhorn Al Gore David Halberstam Michael Herr Seymour Hersh Marguerite Higgins Takeshi Kaikō Stanley Karnow Donald Kirk Steve Kroft John Pilger Gareth Porter John Sack Murray Sayle Jonathan Schell Sydney Schanberg Neil Sheehan Alexander Shimkin John Steinbeck IV Matthew V. Storin Richard Tregaskis Kate Webb Photojournalists Eddie Adams David Burnett Larry Burrows Robert Capa Gilles Caron Dickey Chapelle Charles Chellapah David Douglas Duncan Charles Eggleston Horst Faas Sean Flynn Chas Gerretsen Barbara Gluck Philip Jones Griffiths Dirck Halstead Henri Huet David Hume Kennerly Catherine Leroy Don McCullin Co Rentmeester Tim Page Toshio Sakai Kyoichi Sawada Dana Stone Shigeru Tamura Neal Ulevich Nick Ut Broadcast journalists Martin Bell Ed Bradley Charles Collingwood Walter Cronkite Murray Fromson Bernard Kalb Peter Kalischer Douglas Kiker Steve Kroft Charles Kuralt George Lewis Ike Pappas Dan Rather Clete Roberts Morley Safer Bob Simon Richard Threlkeld Joe Schlesinger Don Webster

Authority control VIAF: 11657 ISNI: 0000 0001 1583 8541 BNF: cb119059058

Persondata
Name	Jones Griffiths, Philip
Alternative names
Short description	British photojournalist
Date of birth	1936-02-18
Place of birth	Rhuddlan, Wales
Date of death	2008-03-19
Place of death	London, England