#98 CAMERA Book Review: Phillip Jones Griffiths - Vietnam Inc

Looking in wonder through Phillip Jones Griffiths' seminal book Vietnam Inc. Anyone with an interest in the Vietnam War needs to get this. Forget the films for an hour or two and just read through this book.

Philip Jones Griffiths' Vietnam Inc. was first published by Collier Macmillan in 1971 and is widely regarded as one of the most influential photobooks of the twentieth century. The book was the result of Griffiths' reporting in Vietnam between 1966 and 1971, during which he travelled extensively through villages, towns and combat zones while living alongside both Vietnamese civilians and American soldiers. Combining 266 black and white photographs with his own extended captions and essays, Griffiths constructed a sustained photographic narrative that examined the Vietnam War from the perspective of the Vietnamese people rather than through official military or political accounts. The publication challenged prevailing representations of the conflict and became a landmark in the history of photojournalism.

Rather than separating military operations from civilian life, Vietnam Inc. demonstrates how the war permeated every aspect of Vietnamese society. Griffiths documented bombing campaigns, refugee movements, medical care, religious life, agricultural communities and the everyday consequences of military occupation, placing individual experiences within the wider political and economic context of the conflict. His integration of photographs and critical commentary established the photobook as a coherent documentary argument rather than a simple collection of images. The influence of Vietnam Inc. extended well beyond photography, contributing to public debate about the Vietnam War and establishing a model for later generations of documentary photographers working in conflict zones.

Phillip Jones Griffiths
Magnum Photos

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