The Sixties (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Doon Arbus (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Sixties is the product of a 30-year collaboration between photographer Richard Avedon and writer Doon Arbus, whose images and words combine in this volume to create a compelling portrait of one of the 20th century's most tumultuous decades. Avedon, the celebrated photographer whose portraits of some of the best-known personalities of our age have graced the pages of Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and The New Yorker magazines since the early 1950s, was prolific during the '60s. Looked at together, his images from those years create a visual time capsule. This large book is filled with a cacophony of Yippies, Black Panthers, Weathermen, Hare Krishnas, Andy Warhol Factory Superstars, pop artists, rock musicians, astronauts, pacifists, politicians, electroshock therapists, media correspondents, civil rights lawyers, antiwar activists, and more--all shot against his signature white background. Arbus, a novelist and writer for magazines including Rolling Stone and The Nation (and the daughter of photographer Diane Arbus), conducted interviews with many of the subjects. Snippets of those conversations provide an intimate and unforgettable document of the tension, vulnerability, anger, recklessness, hope, and empowerment many people experienced during that era. Brief biographies of the portrait sitters, as well as a chronology that spans the first signs of the war in Vietnam in 1960 to its final conclusion in 1973, provide excellent context for the images. The Sixties is riveting. --A.C. Smith

Review

Richard Avedon's portraits have such iconic power that they are interchangeable with their subjects... -- The New York Times Book Review, Eric P. Nash

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1 edition (November 2, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679409238
• ISBN-13: 978-0679409236
• Product Dimensions: 13 x 10.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #368,778 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There IS photographic truth, October 28, 1999

By	Stephen Linsley "HopGoblin" (Highland Park, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Moments ago this book arrived in the mail. As I sat on my floor and opened it's pages, I came to the photograph of Dorothy Day. I suddenly was overcome and burst into tears. Not from sadness or melancholy or loss, but from the Beauty and Honesty in this picture. It is amazing at a time when we are deluged with images, images that are used to sell and and decieve, to look upon images that merely reveal. Reveal truths which lie in the hearts of men and women. Thank you Richard Avedon ( and Doon Arbus) for following your hearts and making these pictures. For having the faith to pursue them, even if it made no sense to at the time. I feel this book has drawn a line on the wall and said no less than this. As a photographer, as a human being... this book is reminder to find and tell THE TRUTH.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a time, what a time...before we all melted..., August 21, 2002

By	K. Corn "reviewer" (Indianapolis,, IN United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Okay, forgive my purple prose. But this book seems to evoke that kind of emotion, filled as it is with images of people at their most open, their most shocking and their most vulnerable...and yes, their most naked. If you are offended by nudity or just plain horrorific images, pass this one by. But if you want a glimpse of the 60s in all its countercultural glory (and naivete), buy this one. Read it. Look at the images and hear the voices of some of the people who were considered icons of the time. It was truly the best and worst of times (stealing from Dickens). But also a courageous moment in our collective history. I'm thankful that Avedon took photos throughout these years.

26 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What Were They Thinking?, November 15, 2000

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

Before going into the merits of this book, let me caution readers that the book (and back cover) contain many images and written material that will shock and appall many including four-letter words and obscene gestures, undressed people portrayed for their shock value, and people involved in activities not often seen in public. If those things offend you, definitely avoid this book.

In reviewing this book, I found it hard to separate my views of the sixties from my views about the book. I hope I have succeeded.

The book is comprised of photographic images done by Richard Avedon and snippets of interviews with many of the subjects done by Doon Arbus, daughter of photographer Diane Arbus. The people portrayed in the book include the more bizarre public figures of that age. Their photographs speak eloquently about their lives and mental states. Their words have a hard time being as eloquent, because many of the people had few thoughts.

In evaluating the book, I saw two significant weaknesses. First, I looked for who was missing. The book nods much more heavily to the counterculture than to the main culture. As a result, the story of the Sixties is biased by its focus, and misses the opportunity for making more interesting comparisons. If I were to show this to my children (which I would not do because of the material in it), they would get a highly inaccurate view of the sixties. Second, I looked for the quality of the photography. Clearly, there were some great photographs, but there were lots of pretty ordinary ones. Combining these perspectives caused me to grade the book down one star.

The best part of the book was some "before" and "after" photography and interviewing with Bob Dylan. The before and after photographs of Frank Zappa were also interesting. Had the volume developed this theme more, it would have been much more valuable. Those who were the counterculture icons of the age could tell us a lot about the sixties by describing how they have changed.

Midst the images of race, war, protest, sex, drugs, and rock, I would be remiss if I did not point out which Avedon photographs moved me. These included images of Louise Nevelson, Dao Dua, Paul McCartney, Dorothy Day, George Wallace with Jimmy Davis (his valet), Cesar Chavez, James Baldwin, a Napalm victim, and Truman Capote. Avedon drew from their souls into mine very powerfully. These photographs were very impressive. In fact, they were so impressive that they made the others seem more bare and uninspiring, which was undoubtedly part of the editorial purpose.

If you were alive during the sixties, I suggest that you create your own annotated scrapbook of that period to share with your children and grandchildren. They will be enriched by your sharing of the images that were important to you, and what you thought about those images then . . . and what you think about them now. In this way, you may be able to successful transmit what was good about the sixties while discouraging what was not so good.

Peace now!