El Salvador [Hardcover]

Larry Towell (Author), Mark Danner (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1997

Larry Towell first visited El Salvador in 1986 as a member of a human rights delegation. Since the beginning of the civil war in 1979, 50,000 people had been killed, 25 per cent of the population were refugees and death squads terrorized the nation. When the war ended in the early 1990s, Towell had documented both the war and its aftermath. This book presents his photographs showing a country where every place is a war zone.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Larry Towell is a member of Magnum Photos and a freelance photographer and writer. He lives in Ontario, Canada. Mark Danner is the author of The Massacre of El Mozote: A Parable of the Cold War.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 127 pages
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co.; 1st edition (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393039447
• ISBN-13: 978-0393039443
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,358,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Travel > Latin America > Central America > El Salvador

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Photojournalism, April 3, 2000

By 

John William Davis - See all my reviews

This review is from: El Salvador (DoubleTake Book) (Paperback)

I would recommend this book to anyone who is moved by high quality documentary black and white photogaphy. Or anyone who is interested in the culture of El Salvador. As a photography student, I know how many thousands of exposures it takes to get one image that has a truly unique perspective and contains real power. This book has many images that would be the "photo of a lifetime" for most people I know.

It was very moving. Larry Towell does real honor to the word "photojournalist" with this collection of work. I would love to own a print from one of his negatives someday.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A different perspective, November 20, 2003

By 

C. Pilster "The Visual Storyteller" (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: El Salvador (DoubleTake Book) (Paperback)

Larry Towell gives you a chance to see El Salvador through a completly different perspective. There are many books out there that show photography in a very literal way, but in this book you sometimes have to search for what Towell is trying to tell you.

You can't just flip through this book and understand what is going on in a photo in a few seconds, but you have to take time to look at each one, think about it and look at all of the layers.

If you are adept at looking at complex photojournlism, then I highly recommend this book.