Griffiths is best known for his wartime photography, particularly his 1971 book 'Vietnam Inc', which is widely held to have been influential in helping to turn public opinion against the war. However he developed his skills through his social and documentary photography of Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. All aspects of his work were present in 'Recollections', the first retrospective of Griffiths' British photographs since his death in March 2008.
Born in Rhuddlan, Wales, in 1936 Philip Jones Griffiths studied pharmacy in Liverpool before taking up a career as a freelance photojournalist. During his incredible career his assignments, often self-engineered, took him to over 120 countries and his photographs appeared in every major magazine in the world. An associate member of Magnum from 1966, he became a member in 1971, then in 1980 moved to New York to assume the presidency of the organisation, a post he held for a record five years.
"Philip Jones Griffiths was one of the greatest and most influential photographers of the late twentieth century. Anyone who had the privilege to know him encountered a lively and enquiring mind with a strong - indeed driving - sense of justice. This was coupled with a quick and wicked sense of humour, which is evident in many of his photographs in this exhibition, with their irreverence towards authority, both political and cultural."
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