Photographer Captures the Beginnings of the Peace Movement in the ’60s

Jim Marshall's photographs are being show for the first time.

October 7, 2017 5:00 am
Jim Marshall: Peace
Haight Street San Francisco 1967 (© Jim Marshall Photography)
© Jim Marshall Photography LLC

A new exhibit with previously unseen photographs by Jim Marshall is now available at the San Francisco Art Exchange (SFAE) called PEACE: Photographs by Jim Marshall.

Almost 60 years after the creation of the CND peace symbol, Marshall’s body of “peace” photographs is a “beautiful and thoughtful reflection from one of the most celebrated photographers of the twentieth century,” writes Reel Art Press

The exhibit is in celebration of the release of Marshall’s new book Jim Marshall: Peace, released by Reel Art Press, according to a press release.

Introduced with a forward by street artist and graphic designer Shepard Fairey, the book’s text is written by Peter Doggett. Joan Baez, a folk singer, provides the book’s afterword, according to Reel Art Press. 

Marshall was one of the most recognized photographs in the history of music. He also explored the changing times of the 1960s, photographing the creativity and celebrity. He started documenting the CND peace symbol and peace rallies as a personal project, Reel Art Press writes. The photographs had remained in his archives until now. The photographs were taken between 1961 and 1968 across America.

The CND peace symbol was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom for the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, reports Reel Art Press. The symbol then spread from the UK to the US. Marshall’s photographs document the symbol’s different meanings over time, starting as a symbol for “Ban the Bomb”-specific protests, and ending up as an international sign for peace.

Jim Marshall: Peace
Haight Street San Francisco 1967 (© Jim Marshall Photography)
© Jim Marshall Photography LLC
Jim Marshall: Peace
New York City photographed at Newport Folk Festival in 1963 (© Jim Marshall Photography)
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Jim Marshall: Peace
Free Speach Rally Telegraph Ave. Berkeley 1968 (© Jim Marshall Photography)
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Jim Marshall: Peace
Peace Walk for Nuclear Disarmament Golden Gate Park 1962 (© Jim Marshall Photography)
© Jim Marshall Photography LLC
Jim Marshall: Peace
No On The Travel Ban Oakland 1965 (© Jim Marshall Photography)
© Jim Marshall Photography LLC
Jim Marshall: Peace
New York, 1962 (© Jim Marshall Photography)
Jim Marshall: Peace
Jim Marshall: Peace (Reel Art Press)

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