Pirkle Jones
Encyclopedia
Pirkle Jones was a documentary photographer born in Shreveport, Louisiana
. His first experience with photography was when he purchased a Kodak Brownie at the age of seventeen. In the 30's his photographs were featured in pictorialist salons and publications. He served four years in the army during World War II
in the 37th division at Fiji Islands, New Georgia
, Guadalcanal
and the Philippines
.
After the war Pirkle entered the first class in photography offered by the California School of Fine Arts. There he met the artists and instructors that helped him develop his talents: Ansel Adams
, Minor White
, Edward Weston
, and Dorothea 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
in the Berryessa Valley which disappeared when the Monticello Dam
was completed. The photographs were taken in the last year of the valley. Jones later described the project with Lange as "one of the most meaningful photographic experiences of my life."
Pirkle also took part in numerous collaborations with his late wife Ruth-Marion Baruch, over the course of their 49 year marriage. In 1968 Ruth-Marion introduced herself to Kathleen Cleaver, wife of famous Black Panther
Eldridge Cleaver
, and spoke of her interest in the Black Panthers and their portrayal by the media. It was her desire to present a balanced portrayal and to that end, Pirkle and Ruth-Marion photographed the Panthers from July to October 1968 in the San Francisco Bay Area
.
Pirkle was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from the San Francisco Art Institute
where he taught until 1994.
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
. His first experience with photography was when he purchased a Kodak Brownie at the age of seventeen. In the 30's his photographs were featured in pictorialist salons and publications. He served four years in the army during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in the 37th division at Fiji Islands, New Georgia
New Georgia
New Georgia is the largest island of the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.-Geography:This island is located in the New Georgia Group, an archipelago including most of the other larger islands in the province...
, Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
After the war Pirkle entered the first class in photography offered by the California School of Fine Arts. There he met the artists and instructors that helped him develop his talents: Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
, Minor White
Minor White
Minor Martin White was an American photographer born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.White earned a degree in botany with a minor in English from the University of Minnesota in 1933. His first creative efforts were in poetry, as he took five years thereafter to complete a sequence of 100 sonnets while...
, Edward Weston
Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston 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." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of...
, and Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange was an influential American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration...
. 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
Monticello, California
Monticello was a town in Napa County, California. The site of the settlement is completely covered by Lake Berryessa.-History:Monticello was a town erected within Rancho Las Putas, a Mexican land grant of given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to José de Jesús Berelleza and Sexto "Sisto"...
in the Berryessa Valley which disappeared when the Monticello Dam
Monticello Dam
Monticello Dam is a dam in Napa County, California, United States constructed between 1953 and 1957. It is a medium concrete-arch dam with a structural height of 304 ft and a crest length of . It contains 326,000 cubic yards of concrete...
was completed. The photographs were taken in the last year of the valley. Jones later described the project with Lange as "one of the most meaningful photographic experiences of my life."
Pirkle also took part in numerous collaborations with his late wife Ruth-Marion Baruch, over the course of their 49 year marriage. In 1968 Ruth-Marion introduced herself to Kathleen Cleaver, wife of famous Black Panther
Black panther
A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. Wild black panthers in Latin America are black jaguars , in Asia and Africa they are black leopards , and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars A black panther is...
Eldridge Cleaver
Eldridge Cleaver
Leroy Eldridge Cleaver better known as Eldridge Cleaver, was a leading member of the Black Panther Party and a writer...
, and spoke of her interest in the Black Panthers and their portrayal by the media. It was her desire to present a balanced portrayal and to that end, Pirkle and Ruth-Marion photographed the Panthers from July to October 1968 in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
.
Pirkle was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from the San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...
where he taught until 1994.
Further reading
- Pirkle Jones: California Photographs, 1935-1982. Aperture; 1st edition (November 1, 2001) ISBN 978-0893819491
- Black Panthers, Greybull Press; 1st edition (September 2, 2002) ISBN 978-0967236698
- The Vanguard: A Photographic Essay on the Black Panthers. Beacon Press
- 100 Years Of Mechanics' Institute Of San Francisco. Mechanics Institute (1955)