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Summary
Summary
Jack London (1876-1916) remains one of the most widely read American writers, known for his naturalist fiction, socialist novels and essays, journalism, and the many adventures that he shared with the world. London was also an accomplished photographer, producing nearly twelve thousand photographs during his lifetime. Jack London, Photographer , the first book devoted to London's photography, reveals a vital dimension of his artistry, barely known until now.
London's subjects included such peoples as the ragged homeless of London's East End and the freezing refugees of the Russo-Japanese War, the latter photographed on assignment for the Hearst Syndicate. For Collier's magazine, London wrote his eyewitness account of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire and returned two weeks later with his camera to document a city in ruins but slowly recovering. During his voyage aboard the Snark, London produced humane images of the South Seas islanders that contrasted dramatically with the period's stereotypical portraits of indigenous peoples. In 1914 he documented the U.S. invasion of Veracruz during the Mexican Revolution. Although some of his images were used in newspaper and magazine stories and in his books The People of the Abyss and The Cruise of the Snark , the majority have remained unpublished until now.
The volume's more than two hundred photographs were printed from the original negatives in the California State Parks collection and from the original photographs in albums at the Huntington Library. They are reproduced here as duotones from silver gelatin prints. The general and chapter introductions place London's photographs in the context of his writings and his times.
London lived during the first true mass-media era, when the use of photographic images ushered in a new way of covering the news. With his discerning eye, London recorded historical moments through the faces and bodies of the people who lived them, creating memorable portraits of individuals whose cultural differences pale beside their common humanity.
Author Notes
One of the pioneers of 20th century American literature, Jack London specialized in tales of adventure inspired by his own experiences.
London was born in San Francisco in 1876. At 14, he quit school and became an "oyster pirate," robbing oyster beds to sell his booty to the bars and restaurants in Oakland. Later, he turned on his pirate associates and joined the local Fish Patrol, resulting in some hair-raising waterfront battles. Other youthful activities included sailing on a seal-hunting ship, traveling the United States as a railroad tramp, a jail term for vagrancy and a hazardous winter in the Klondike during the 1897 gold rush. Those experiences converted him to socialism, as he educated himself through prolific reading and began to write fiction.
After a struggling apprenticeship, London hit literary paydirt by combining memories of his adventures with Darwinian and Spencerian evolutionary theory, the Nietzchean concept of the "superman" and a Kipling-influenced narrative style. "The Son of the Wolf"(1900) was his first popular success, followed by 'The Call of the Wild" (1903), "The Sea-Wolf" (1904) and "White Fang" (1906). He also wrote nonfiction, including reportage of the Russo-Japanese War and Mexican revolution, as well as "The Cruise of the Snark" (1911), an account of an eventful South Pacific sea voyage with his wife, Charmian, and a rather motley crew.
London's body broke down prematurely from his rugged lifestyle and hard drinking, and he died of uremic poisoning - possibly helped along by a morphine overdose - at his California ranch in 1916. Though his massive output is uneven, his best works - particularly "The Call of the Wild" and "White Fang" - have endured because of their rich subject matter and vigorous prose.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Choice Review
Jack London, known as an adventurer, writer, socialist, and reporter, was also a photographer. More than 200 of his photographs are collected in this book, with captions drawn primarily from his own narratives. The photographs document the people and places he encountered in his personal travels and photojournalism assignments. These included London's East End slum (1903), the Russo-Japanese War (1904), the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, his cruise through the South Seas (1907-08), his voyage in a tall ship around Cape Horn (1912), and the Mexican Revolution (1914). Selected and introduced by London scholar Reesman (Univ. of Texas, San Antonio) and Hodson (curator of the London materials at the Huntington Library), the photographs were printed from original negatives by photo-archaeologist Adam, whose "Technical Notes" describe the difficulties that people faced making an excellent photograph at the time. While London's oeuvre lacks an iconic image such as Alfred Eisenstaedt's V-J Day in Times Square or Joe Rosenthal's Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, it records timely historical information with objectivity. Now that this collection is available, the significance of London's photographs can be determined through careful appraisal and study. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. S. M. Nuernberg emerita, University of Wisconsin--Oshkosh
Library Journal Review
This book is an unanticipated landmark, for London's groundbreaking work as a photojournalist has remained hidden until now. These photos were made from long-forgotten negatives held by the California State Parks system, rediscovered during research for the 1906 San Francisco earthquake centenary. London was a prescient, timely genius; his work helped define the photojournalistic form, a new idea, now seen as the window into contemporary life. The book's visual bounty seems endless: London was the only American to document the Russo-Japanese battlefields in 1904; he recorded the 1906 San Francisco earthquake's aftermath; he chronicled the 1914 Mexican Revolution, shown here alongside heartbreaking shots of the dying South Pacific peoples he visited during a transoceanic voyage in 1907-08. London's seminal nonfiction work, The People of the Abyss, was accompanied by trailblazing imagery of the English underclass that readers can now see in expanded form. The images are paired with London's own vivid anecdotes, revealing his descriptive powers for a new generation. VERDICT Representing a major expansion and renewal of London's stature, this book will be of great appeal to a broad range of audiences interested in history, American literature, and photography.-Douglas F. Smith, Berkeley P.L., CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
