David Douglas Duncan - I Protest ! - 1968

RARE OPPORTUNITY to buy this VERY IMPORTANT PHOTO BOOK:

Never published in pocket collection format, only in small formats in 1968 (!).

The book is a feat of anger, both in its words and its images.
Duncan wrote it upon his return from covering the Battle of Khe San, and in this text he explores and critiques American military tactics and, in fact, its place in the world.


David Douglas Duncan - I Protest! - 1968 - New American Library -
128 pages -

The binding is in very good condition, the book is in its original illustrated softcover, with slight wear from use, rubbed headcaps and corners, smooth red spine titled in black, superb illustrations on the covers.

Very good condition internally, the book is enriched with numerous black and white photographs outside the text, including a frontispiece and double-page spreads.

Delivery service guaranteed within a few days.

David Douglas Duncan (1916 - 2018) was an American photojournalist, known for his dramatic combat photographs, as well as his extensive domestic photography of Pablo Picasso and his wife Jacqueline.
Duncan was born in Kansas City, Missouri, where his childhood was marked by an interest in nature, which led him to earn the rank of Squirrel Boy Scout at a relatively young age. A flashlight slide presentation by big game hunter and physician Richard Lightburn Sutton at Duncan's elementary school in Kansas City sparked an early interest in photography and world travel. Duncan briefly attended the University of Arizona, where he studied archaeology. In Tucson, he inadvertently photographed John Dillinger attempting to enter a hotel. Duncan eventually continued his education at the University of Miami, graduating in 1938 with a degree in zoology and Spanish. It was in Miami that his interest in photojournalism truly began. He worked as a picture editor and photographer for the university newspaper.
His career as a photojournalist began when he photographed a hotel fire in Tucson, Arizona, while studying archaeology at the nearby University of Arizona. His photos included one of a hotel guest who repeatedly tried to return to the burning building to retrieve his suitcase. This photo proved intriguing when the guest turned out to be the notorious bank robber John Dillinger, and the suitcase contained the proceeds from a bank robbery during which he had shot a police officer. Unfortunately, after the film was handed over to the Tucson Citizen, it was lost forever, and the photos were never printed.
After college, Duncan began working freelance, selling his work to magazines such as The Kansas City Star, Life, and National Geographic.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Duncan joined the Marine Corps, earned the rank of officer, and became a combat photographer. Following brief assignments in California and Hawaii, he was sent to the South Pacific on a mission when the United States entered World War II. As a second lieutenant, he initially served with Marine Air Group 23 and was later assigned to photograph operations for the South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command. Although combat photographers are often close to the action, they rarely engage in combat. However, during a brief skirmish on Bougainville Island, Duncan found himself fighting against the Japanese. Duncan also covered the Battle of Okinawa and was aboard the USS Missouri during the Japanese surrender.
Duncan's war photographs were so impressive that after the war, he was hired by Life magazine to join its staff, following the encouragement of J. R. Eyerman, Life's chief photographer. During his time at Life, Duncan covered numerous events, including the end of British rule in India and conflicts in Turkey, Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Perhaps his most famous photographs were taken during the Korean War. He compiled many of them in a book, This Is War! (1951), the proceeds of which went to the widows and children of Marines killed in the conflict. Duncan is considered the most prominent war photographer of the Korean War.
His photograph and conversation with marines during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir are noteworthy.
"I asked him, 'If I were God, what would you want for Christmas?'" Duncan said. "He simply looked up at the sky and said, 'Give me tomorrow.'"
Following the Vietnam War, Duncan eventually compiled two more books, *I Protest!* (1968) and *War Without Heroes* (1970). In these, Duncan abandoned impartiality and challenged the US government's handling of the war.
Besides his combat photography, Duncan is also known for his informal photographs taken in the homes of Pablo Picasso and his second wife, Jacqueline Roque, which he began in 1956 at the suggestion of photographer Robert Capa. He published seven books of Picasso's photographs in total. Duncan became a close friend of Picasso and was the only person authorized to photograph several of Picasso's private paintings. Duncan lived in Castellaras, France, near Mougins, where Picasso spent the last 12 years of his life.
Duncan greatly helped Nippon Kogaku (Nikon) during its early years, and in 1965 he received the 200,000th Nikon F manufactured, in recognition of his use and popularization of their camera.
In 1966, he published Yankee Nomad, a visual autobiography that collected photographs representative of his entire career. In 2003, this was revised and published under the title Photo Nomad.
Duncan photographed both the 1968 Democratic and Republican National Conventions, and published photographs of these conventions in a coffee table book titled Self-Portrait U.S.A. in 1969.
Duncan travelled extensively in the Middle East, having been stationed there for ten years after World War II for Life magazine. He later published The World of Allah in 1982.
He celebrated his 100th birthday in January 2016 and died in June 2018 in Grasse, France, at the age of 102.
In 2021, Duncan was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame and the Museum of International Photography.
Wikipedia