The archetype of the war correspondent is freighted with an outsize heroic mythos to which world-renowned conflict photographer Stanley Greene is no stranger. Black Passport is his autobiographical monograph-cum-scrapbook, and it transports the viewer behind the news as Greene reflects upon his career, oscillating between the relative safety of life in the West and the traumas of wars abroad. This glimpse of the polarities that have comprised Greene's life raises essential questions about the role of the photojournalist, as well as concerns about its repercussions: what motivates someone to willingly confront death and misery? To do work that risks one's life? Is it political engagement, or a sense of commitment to telling difficult stories? Or does being a war photographer simply satisfy a yearning for adventure? Black Passport offers an experience that is both exceptionally personal and ostensibly objective. Built around Greene's narrating monologue, the book's 26 short, nonsequential "scenes" are each illustrated by a portfolio of his work.
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Editorial Reviews
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"Black Passport tells the Stanley Greene story like a movie, in vignettes with pictures, and pithy apercus about wars, girls, drugs, and cameras...For the reader, it is a passport of one who has been to Hell and back numerous times." --Bill Kouwenhoven --HotShoe International
"...[a] brutally honest retrospective, which spans his early days shooting punk bands to his current career as a decorated war photographer. In images and words, Greene bluntly recounts how war shatters lives--including his own." --Mark Murrmann --Mother Jones
"...[a] brutally honest retrospective, which spans his early days shooting punk bands to his current career as a decorated war photographer. In images and words, Greene bluntly recounts how war shatters lives--including his own." --Mark Murrmann --Mother Jones
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5.0 out of 5 stars
"Black Passport": A Journey Beyond War,
By Chris Lee "Chris Lee" (Long Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stanley Greene: Black Passport (Paperback)
"Black Passport" is a multi-layered diary and sometimes dark confessional from one of the
great photojournalists of our time. Covering most of Stanley Greene's career, including major visual essays, important moments in history and turning points in his life, the book takes you on extremely personal journey of suffering, pathos, art, desire, love and peace within and beyond the horrors of War. While Mr. Greene's book has its glamorous moments, it tells you up-front not to get involved in War photography unless you are ready to suffer (and very possibly die) from the physical, mental and emotional side-effects. In person, Mr. Greene is humorous, serious, warm and sincere. I met him at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles in July of 2010. Another interesting (and wonderful) aspect of "Black Passport" is that 99-100% of the images were shot on film, with Mr. Greene using the Leica M series of Rangefinders. Only within the last few years, during Hurricane Katrina and Haiti (not in the book), has he embraced digital. For those interested in photojournalism and documentary works, this book is a must-have. I sometimes thought, while reading the book, that Mr. Greene overemphasized his own suffering; but his complete honesty actually made the book more visceral. No punches are pulled. The text is written from interviews, like a motion picture voice-over. This book is truly a passport to another world that the shallow dare not enter. But for those who decide to visit, you will stay, absorb, and wonder. Be warned, too, that the images are not so much bloody or violent; it is the tone and the atmosphere of the book itself that will grab you by the neck and make you look at the world with new eyes. I hope that Mr. Greene has reached some level of peace from his career; in "Black Passport", we are fortunate to be able to share the journey with him.
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