Pirkle Jones (January 2, 1914 – March 15, 2009) was an American

documentary photographer Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life. It is typically undertaken as professional pho ...

and educator.

Biography

Pirkle Jones was born in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

. His first experience with photography was when he bought a Kodak Brownie at the age of seventeen. In the 1930s, his photographs were featured in pictorialist salons and publications. He served four years in the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the 37th division and went to the

Fiji Islands Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

New Georgia New Georgia, with an area of , is the largest of the islands in Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the 200th-largest island in the world. Geography New Georgia island is located in the New Georgia Group, an archipelago including most of ...

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

, and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. After the war, Jones entered the first class in photography offered by the

California School of Fine Arts San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

. There he met the artists and instructors that helped him develop his talents:

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advoca ...

, Minor White,

Edward Weston Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) was a 20th-century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers..." and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." ...

, and

Dorothea Lange Dorothea Lange (born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn; May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange' ...

. Jones worked as Ansel Adams' assistant for 6 years, and the two photographers forged a lifelong friendship. Dorothea Lange came to him in 1956 with an idea to collaborate on a photographic essay entitled "Death of a Valley". The essay chronicled the death of the town of

Monticello, California Monticello was a town in Napa County, California. The site of the settlement is completely covered by Lake Berryessa.U.S. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation''Early History of Lake Berryessa'' Retrieved on August 14, 2009. History M ...

in the

Berryessa Valley Rancho Las Putas was a Mexican land grant in present-day Napa County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to José de Jesús Berreyesa and Sexto "Sisto" Berreyesa. The name ''Las Putas'' came from Putah Creek, which ran thro ...

, which disappeared when the

Monticello Dam Monticello Dam is a high concrete arch dam in Napa County, California, United States, constructed between 1953 and 1957. The dam impounded Putah Creek to create Lake Berryessa in the Vaca Mountains. Lake Berryessa is currently the seventh-large ...

was completed. The photographs were taken in the last year of its existence. Jones later described the project with Lange as "one of the most meaningful photographic experiences of islife". Jones also took part in numerous collaborations with his wife,

Ruth-Marion Baruch Ruth-Marion Baruch (1922–1997) was an American photographer remembered for her pictures of the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s. Early life and education Baruch was born in Berlin on June 15, 1922. She and her family migrated in 1927 to t ...

, over the course of their 49-year marriage. In 1968, Ruth-Marion introduced herself to

Kathleen Cleaver Kathleen Neal Cleaver (born May 13, 1945) is an American law professor and activist, known for her involvement with the Black Power movement and the Black Panther Party, a political and revolutionary. Early life Juette Kathleen Neal was born ...

, wife of famous

Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...

Eldridge Cleaver Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (August 31, 1935 – May 1, 1998) was an American writer and political activist who became an early leader of the Black Panther Party. In 1968, Cleaver wrote '' Soul on Ice'', a collection of essays that, at the time of i ...

, and spoke of her interest in the Black Panthers and their portrayal by the media. It was her desire to present a balanced view that inspired Jones and Ruth-Marion to photograph the Panthers from July to October 1968 in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. Jones was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

, where he taught until 1994. One of his students was

Geraldine Sharpe Geraldine Sharpe (1929–1968), also known as Gerry Sharpe, was an American photographer. She had worked as an assistant to Ansel Adams. Sharpe's two major bodies of work include photographs of landscapes, and of Ghana (from 1962). Biography Ge ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Pirkle 20th-century American photographers 1914 births 2009 deaths People from Shreveport, Louisiana Photographers from Louisiana San Francisco Art Institute alumni San Francisco Art Institute faculty United States Army personnel of World War II Documentary photographers

Biography

References

Further reading

External links