This article, the first in a series of columns written for the Village Voice between 1968 and 1973, appeared exactly 50 years ago, in the June 20, 1968 issue of that alt-weekly newspaper, which had already become the model for the emerging national and, indeed, international “alternative press.” With it I hung out my shingle as a photography critic, a rubric that I thereby inaugurated and under which flag I still sail. […]
|
Follow me on Mastodon:
@adcoleman@hcommons.social
 |
The intrusion of vendors directly into the editorial process under the guise of Day in the Life’s corporate sponsorship signaled the demise of one’s liberty to work outside the boundaries of pre-established, packaged formats, confining experimentation to techniques built into the equipment or provided by software. […] Entrepreneurship undisguised by any pretense to journalism was baked into the Day in the Life paradigm, not only in the superficiality of its origins among San Francisco’s technophiles but, more deeply, in the quest for profits while conceding the rest — esthetics, syntax, semantics, emotions, accuracy — for a piñata stuffed with penny candy and meaningless trinkets. […] [Editor’s Note: Here we continue “The Dannin Papers,” a series of Guest Posts by Robert Dannin, who served as Editorial Director of Magnum Photos from 1985-90. This second chapter — Dannin’s first-hand observations of the evolution and impact on the profession of the “A Day in the Life of …” book series (DITLO) as conceived […] No one even attempted to conceal that A Day in the Life of China was a de facto joint venture with the ruling Communist Party. Teaching the young Collins maestros how to fiddle, the apparatchiks crafted A Day in the Life of China as “a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.” Key partners in executing this lofty theme were to be the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese National Publishing Industry Trading Corporation, and the Great Wall Publishing House. […] |
 SPJ Research Award 2014All content of this publication is © copyright 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 by A. D. Coleman unless otherwise noted. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced for commercial purposes without prior written permission. All photos copyright by the individual photographers. "Fair use" allows quotation of excerpts of textual material from this site for educational and other noncommercial purposes.
Published by Flying Dragon LLC.
|
