philip jones griffiths

By Catherine Jones on Oct 17, 08 07:50 AM

You may not know the name, but it's likely you've seen the photos.
Philip Jones Griffiths' images of ordinary Vietnamese caught up in the Vietnam conflict changed public opinion on the war, and changed lives.
The Welshman was on of the greatest photographers of the 20th century.
And a new exhibition of his work opens tomorrow at the Conservation Centre in Whitechapel.
I was asked to officially help open the show at a launch reception last night.

Vietnam actually plays a very small part in the display, with most of the images on show being taken in London, Wales....and Liverpool.
Griffiths was friends with Adrian Henri and studied pharmacy in the city before a photographic career beckoned.
He had a great eye for capturing those unguarded, intimate or unintentionally comical moments of every day life.
My favourites in the exhibition include the nannies in their starched uniforms pushing their Silver Cross prams along Downing Street (in the days you could still walk down there), stopping to flirt with the bobbies outside number 10; the juxtaposition of the ordinary and extraordinary on the streets of Northern Ireland, and the bohemian cultural scene in Liverpool.
There's also, as I pointed out after this week's news, a deeply ironic image of a young Ringo Starr (in shirt-tails and not much else) signing an autograph.
And my absolute favourite, the doleful expression on a dog's face - staring straight into camera - as soon-to-be-disgraced MP Jeremy Thorpe fondled its ears during campaigning.
Griffiths died in March so he didn't get to see this exhibition in the city he admired. It opens tomorrow and is definitely worth a view.