Photo of the Month: Clash of Cultures

Clash of Cultures. Photo: Langelle/GJEP

In 1972, at the height of the Vietnam War and the youth counter-culture, the gap between the generations and cultures seemed insurmountable.

This photograph was shot on assignment for the St. Louis Outlaw during the anti-war protests of the 1972 Republican National Convention in Miami Beach.  It was Orin Langelle’s first photo assignment.

Langelle, now the Co-director and Strategist for Global Justice Ecology Project, is working on a book documenting four decades of his concerned photography.  He comments, “Times change but yet the U.S. is always in some war somewhere, while still being deeply divided by race, class and politics. The madness continues while Mother Earth and all inhabitants suffer from those who profit from her exploitation and plunder.

This first assignment helped make me the photographer that I am today.  It was a difficult assignment for me back in ’72 but included sharing a smoke (ahem, not tobacco) with Yippie! co-founder Abbie Hoffman.  My photos ranged from images of John Wayne on the inside of the convention center to ‘Hanoi Jane’ Fonda on the outside.”

See more from Langelle’s photo essay of the 1972 Republican National Convention by clicking here.

This and other of Langelle’s photos from the 1972 RNC are housed in the Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan.

Also check out the GJEP Photo Gallery and past Photos of the Month.