Few Comforts or Surprises: The Arkansas Delta

Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. 1973.


First edition. 235x286mm. pp. [iv], 124. 110 black and white photographs by Richards with accompanying text for some of the images. Photographic illustrated paper boards. Some bumping to the corners and head and foot of spine but otherwise in very good condition and the contents are excellent. Lacking dustjacket. This is Eugene Richards's first book. It was born out of his work with VISTA, (Volunteers in Service to America) which he joined in 1968. This was a government programme established as an arm of the so-called" War on Poverty." Following a year and a half in eastern Arkansas, Richards helped found a social service organization and a community newspaper, Many Voices, which reported on black political action as well as the Ku Klux Klan. This collection reflects the hardship of life together with the racial and political tensions in this desperately poor part of the southern states. An important document in excellent condition. This copy is from the library of John G. Morris.
John G. Morris (1916-2017) was probably the most important photo-editor of the twentieth century. He worked with many of the finest photographers - Robert Capa, Cartier-Bresson and W. Eugene Smith. As the London Picture Editor of "Life" during WWII, he was responsible for editing and publishing Capa's coverage of D-Day. Later, Morris became the Picture Editor of "Ladies Home Journal", Executive Editor of Magnum Photos, and Picture Editor of The New York Times. Until his death, he toured the world lecturing about photo-journalism "If it [a photo] has a message, the message has to come through... But, it should evoke something from the heart. It should pull at you. Not only should it inform you, it should hook you".