Days of Rage:An American Photographer’s Journal

The late 60s and early 70s were a turbulent time of civil unrest in American history, when people were confronted by tragedy, war and a divided nation. Photographer David Fenton, then a teenage high school dropout turned full-time photographer for Liberation News Service (LNS), captured the tumultuous times when the images truly spoke louder than the headlines. Through his photographs, Fenton gave us an inside view of Vietnam anti-war and draft resistance demonstrations, a Central Park “Be-In” with Abbie Hoffman, the trials of Black Panther Party leaders, a Janis Joplin concert and other signs of the times. Because LNS was a part of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Fenton had access to people and places that other mainstream media photographers didn't, and was the only photographer allowed to photograph the infamous Weather Underground. There is a distinct feeling of intimacy that is conveyed in the photos because of this. While some photos were published in The New York Times, Life Magazine, and Newsweek, many of Fenton's photographs have never before been seen. The collection appears in Fenton's new book, titled “SHOTS: An American Photographer's Journal 1967- 1972,” to be published by Earth Aware Editions on April 15, with a Foreword by former California senator and Chicago 7 member Tom Hayden, commentary by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Norman Mailer and an Afterword by Govinda Gallery owner Chris Murray. Columnist Arianna Huffington said “The passion, promise, idealism, excitement and turbulence of the 60s leap off the page and grab you by the heart. The revolution may not have been televised— but it was captured on film by David Fenton.” Today, Fenton runs Fenton Communications, a media firm that represents clients such as MoveOn.org and others trying to improve human rights, the environment, and public health. The photos will be on exhibit at Govinda Gallery in Georgetown from April 15-23. These are just a sample of photographs from the book and the Govinda Gallery exhibit, accompanied by excerpts from the book.

“What I remember most vividly about these demonstrations was how exhausting they were to photograph…I had to keep running back again to get the best shots, and frequently had to put on a gas mask and wade through clouds of tear gas, or policemen using their clubs against demonstrators,” David Fenton, “SHOTS: An American Photographer's Journal 1967-1972.”

“Excerpted from Lincoln's first Inaugural Address in 1860…The inscription of the courthouse wall, ʻThe Ultimate Justice of the People,' crystallized the ideas and images of the [Black] Panthers that many, including myself, held at the time. In some ways, the Panthers picked up the thread of Lincoln's and made it part of their culture and ideology. The Panthers were disciplined, organized, and provided true social services to the poor, including the famous ʻFree Breakfast' program for children…the Panthers also had inherent flaws… ” David Fenton, “SHOTS: An American Photographer's Journal 1967-1972”

“It's hard to image now how important the music was to the protest movement and the birth of counterculture, but it was essential…the moments I will never forget were when Janice Joplin belted the blues— no one has approached her raspy, gutsy power since. Watching her guzzle Southern Comfort on stage, I wondered how long she could keep it together,” David Fenton, “SHOTS: An American Photographer's Journal 1967-1972.”

“Fort Dix, New Jersey served as a major transshipment point for troops going to Vietnam. Soldiers sometimes refused to go, filling the Fort Dix stockade, and the antiwar movement rallied behind these courageous GI's,” David Fenton, “SHOTS: An American Photographer's Journal 1967-1972.”

“The boy running had burned an American flag at a Central Park ʻBe-In' in New York while protesting the war in Vietnam… Three mounted cops took off after him, and after a good run, they beat the living daylights out of him,” David Fenton, “ SHOTS: An American Photographer's Journal 1967-1972.”