Philip Jones Griffiths

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. He photographed in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968. He went back to Vietnam in 1970 and became famous for his 1971 book on the war, »Vietnam Inc.«. An associate member of Magnum since 1967, Jones Griffiths became a member in 1971. In 1973 he covered the Yom Kippur War and then worked in Cambodia (1973-75). In 1977 he was based in Thailand, covering Asia. In 1980, Griffiths moved to New York to assume the presidency of Magnum, a post which he held for a record five years. Griffiths's photographs have appeared in every major magazine in the world, and his assignments, often self-given, led him to over 120 countries in all five continents. Griffiths, who has exhibited widely in the US and Europe, continues to work for Life and Géo on such stories as Buddhism in Cambodia, Drought in India, Poverty in Texas, The Re-greening of Vietnam, and the legacy of the War in Kuwait. Griffiths's publications include: »Vietnam Inc.« (1971), »Bangkok« (1979), »Philip Jones Griffiths: una vision retrospectiva 1952-1988« (1992), »Dark Odyssey« (1996).

[2006]