Ken Light: What¦s Going On? 1969-1974

This book of Ken LightÆs earliest photos from 1969 to 1974 documents the social, cultural and political landscapes of America as they roiled with upheaval, and marks his transformation from a student activist to a concerned social documentary photographer. LightÆs frontline pho - tos show people across race, class and political lines, and counteract the truncated memory of the sixties that has often been promoted by the media.

LightÆs journey through America begins with teenagers at the beach with their transistor radio. Here is the quiet before the storm: high-school students with their Eisenhower textbook, retirees playing cards and cafeteria workers quietly striking. And then, suddenly, the new, alternative worldview bursts forth: the Vietnam Moratorium, the Republican Convention, riots, POWs returning home, NixonÆs resig - nation. WhatÆs Going On? reveals how politically divided the United States was as a progressive, more egalitarian world order was foisted upon it. It stirs long fo