Renowned photojournalist Philip Jones Griffiths succumbed to cancer at his home on Wednesday morning. He was 72.
Born in North Wales, he switched from pharmacy to full time photography in 1961, working for The Observer. In 1965,working for Magnum, he arrived in Vietnam, although he found it difficult to sell his images as they concentratedon the suffering of the Vietnamese people caused by the war. Low on funds, he managed to get a scoop with photos of Jacqueline Kennedy accompanied by a British aristocrat rumored to be her love interest, in Cambodia in 1967. Sales of these pictures allowed him to continue working in Vietnam, which resulted in the publication of the book “Vietnam Inc”, widely regarded as a classic of photojournalism.
As well as Vietnam, he also covered the Algerian War (prior to Vietnam), the Yom Kippur War, Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge took over, served for five years as president of Magnum and returned to Vietnam in the 1990s to document the effects of Agent Orange and a series about Vietnam at peace.
In the words of Henri Cartier-Bresson, “not since Goya has anyone portrayed war like Philip Jones Griffiths.â€
Never married, he is survived by two daughters.
A very good series of interviews from 2002 can be found at Musarium and one from 2005 is at The Digital Journalist.
