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Bluff City : the secret life of photographer Ernest Withers / Preston Lauterbach.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2019]Edition: First editionDescription: 339 pages : illustrations ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780393247923
  • 0393247929
Subject(s):
Contents:
Don't touch anything -- The pictures tell the story -- Holding on to Jerusalem Slim -- I am a man.
Summary: "The little-known story of an iconic photographer, whose work captured--and influenced--a critical moment in American history. Ernest Withers took some of the most legendary images of the 1950s and 60s: Martin Luther King Jr. riding a newly integrated bus in Montgomery, Alabama; Emmett Till's uncle pointing an accusatory finger across the courtroom at his nephew's killer. But from his position at the heart of the cultural revolution, Withers was simultaneously gathering information for the FBI. Withers traversed disparate worlds, from Black Power meetings to raucous Memphis nightclubs where Elvis brushed shoulders with B. B. King. In this gripping narrative history, Preston Lauterbach examines the complicated political and economic forces that supported Withers' seeming betrayal of those he witnessed, and suggests that Withers' attention to nuance--so arresting in his photography--also made him essential to the FBI. Bluff City culminates with a riveting account of the 1968 riot that led to Dr. King's death, and investigates how Withers may have altered the course of this momentous event"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Biography Withers, E. L389 Available 33111009320090
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Who was Ernest Withers? Most Americans may not know the name, but they do know his photographs. Withers took some of the most legendary images of the 1950s and '60s: Martin Luther King, Jr., riding a newly integrated bus in Montgomery, Alabama; Emmett Till's uncle pointing an accusatory finger across the courtroom at one of his nephew's killers; scores of African-American protestors, carrying a forest of signs reading "I am a man." But while he enjoyed unparalleled access to the inner workings of the civil rights movement, Withers was working as an informant for the FBI.

In this gripping narrative history, Preston Lauterbach examines the complicated political and economic forces that informed Withers's seeming betrayal of the people he photographed. Withers traversed disparate worlds, from Black Power meetings to raucous Memphis nightclubs where Elvis brushed shoulders with B.B. King. He had a gift for capturing both dramatic historic moments and intimate emotional ones, and it may have been this attention to nuance that made Withers both a brilliant photographer and an essential asset to the FBI. Written with similar nuance, Bluff City culminates with a riveting account of the 1968 riot that ended in violence just a few days before Dr. King's death.

Brimming with new information and featuring previously unpublished and rare photographs from the Withers archive not seen in over fifty years, Bluff City grapples with the legacy of a man whose actions--and artistry--make him an enigmatic and fascinating American figure.

"The little-known story of an iconic photographer, whose work captured--and influenced--a critical moment in American history. Ernest Withers took some of the most legendary images of the 1950s and 60s: Martin Luther King Jr. riding a newly integrated bus in Montgomery, Alabama; Emmett Till's uncle pointing an accusatory finger across the courtroom at his nephew's killer. But from his position at the heart of the cultural revolution, Withers was simultaneously gathering information for the FBI. Withers traversed disparate worlds, from Black Power meetings to raucous Memphis nightclubs where Elvis brushed shoulders with B. B. King. In this gripping narrative history, Preston Lauterbach examines the complicated political and economic forces that supported Withers' seeming betrayal of those he witnessed, and suggests that Withers' attention to nuance--so arresting in his photography--also made him essential to the FBI. Bluff City culminates with a riveting account of the 1968 riot that led to Dr. King's death, and investigates how Withers may have altered the course of this momentous event"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Don't touch anything -- The pictures tell the story -- Holding on to Jerusalem Slim -- I am a man.

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