Book Review
The Home Front
By Kenneth Graves
Reviewed by Adam Bell
As a formative moment in the lives of American Baby Boomers, the Vietnam-era has been endlessly paraded in popular visual culture for decades — hippies, Flower Power, rock concerts, protests, political scandals and assassinations. Given the well-trod visual record of the mid-60s to early-70s, it’s rare to find photographic work that offers a fresh and unique perspective of the turbulent era.
The Home Front
Reviewed by Adam Bell
The Home Front
Photographs by Kenneth Graves
Mack, London, England, 2015. 80 pp., 45 black and white illustrations, 9x6¾".
As
a formative moment in the lives of American Baby Boomers, the
Vietnam-era has been endlessly paraded in popular visual culture for
decades — hippies, Flower Power, rock concerts, protests, political
scandals and assassinations. Given the well-trod visual record of the
mid-60s to early-70s, it’s rare to find photographic work that offers a
fresh and unique perspective of the turbulent era. Focusing on city
streets, public fairgrounds, and suburban cul-de-sacs, Kenneth Graves’
The Home Front
offers a humorous and playful look at San Francisco during the war.
Eschewing the expected, Graves reveals moments of absurdity, pointed
sociological detail and whimsical formal delights. Brilliantly designed
to resemble a dossier or report, the manila Swiss-bound book is an
absurdist sociological missive — part Garry Winogrand and part Eugene
Ionesco.