This book spans fifty years of underground / counter-cultural
photography by Charles Gatewood. American-born Charles Gatewood's career
has emphasized rebelliousness against the status quo, and documentation
of underground, underclass and bigger-than-life individuals who live
lives that challenge middle-class morals and value systems.
In the sixties, escaping to Sweden to avoid being drafted into the
Vietnam War campaign, Charles Gatewood early on (1966) seized an
opportunity to photograph Bob Dylan, taking his first iconic
black-and-white portraits (which became heavily syndicated). After
moving back to America (Manhattan), he developed his technical skills,
photographic eye and timing by documenting celebrities such as Red
Stewart, Sly Stone, Martin Luther King and others in less-than-ideal
circumstances. Later he participated in the post-sixties gender wars
campaigns, documenting Mardi Gras, biker rallies, nudist conventions,
and other outre social gatherings in private clubs, the Folsom Street
fairs, as well as worldwide. In this book, Charles Gatewood sums up his
long career and offers advice to budding young photographers and
social-activist artists and performers.
