Western Mail Orbituary for Welsh Photographer

Welshman who changed war photography dies

Mar 20 2008 by Sarah Miloudi, Western Mail

RENOWNED war photographer Philip Jones Griffiths has died aged 72.

The photojournalist from Rhuddlan, in Denbighshire, passed away on Tuesday at his London home after a battle with cancer, his picture agency Magnum Photos announced yesterday.
Griffiths is best remembered for his coverage of the Vietnam War during the 1960s.

He began his career after receiving his first photography lesson at a camera club in Rhyl. The teenager, then aged 16, later worked as a freelance photographer for The Observer, and earned a reputation for being a passionate and industrious photojournalist.

Throughout his 50-year career, Griffiths travelled to more than 120 countries around the world but frequently visited war zones in Vietnam and Africa to study the effects of conflict.
His coverage of the Vietnam war – as well as its after-effects – has been described as “unprecedented”. His work was published in 1971 under the title, Vietnam Inc.
Yesterday, members of picture agency Magnum Photos paid tribute to their former colleague, describing the loss – both personal and professional – as “enormous”.

A spokesman from the agency said, “It was a privilege to have brushed, even lightly, against his charm, his brilliance and his passion for photojournalism.
“Those who only know him through his work will have missed his skill as an orator, raconteur, wit and polemicist.

“He remained the lovely man that he was – graceful and welcoming – especially to young people trying to make a start in photography.

“He had much to pass on, not just about the importance of ‘real’ photography, but about the art and craft of picture-making.”

Griffiths was born on February 18, 1936. It was while growing up in Rhuddlan that he received his first lesson in photography, introducing him to the work of French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Griffiths was told about Cartier- Bresson – known as the father of modern photography – at a lecture at Rhyl Camera club, and was shown his first picture by the photographer at the same event.
Aged 16 at the time, he has been quoted as saying he will “never forget” the lessons he learnt during the lecture.

Throughout his career, Griffiths became known for a style of photography which had an ability to draw viewers in. Critics have suggested his coverage of the Vietnam War in the 1960s is one of the most articulate bodies of photographic work ever created.

In the 1980s Griffiths revisited the country he had become so closely associated with, and undertook a 25-year study of the consequences the war had on Vietnam. The study helped build an unparalleled record of the post-war transformation of the country, and photos from the study were published in 2005.
Shortly before his death, Griffiths completed a book containing some of his lesser-known studies – namely one of British life in the period from 1950 to 1970.

He was also the subject of a year-long American exhibition in 2005 entitled 50 Years on the Frontline.

Griffiths is thought to have inspired hundreds to enter the photography trade and many feel his strength of vision will never be replicated.

Griffiths leaves behind his family, Fanny and Donna Ferrato and Katherine and Heather Holden.