Seymour Chwast
The South, 1969
NY: Push Pin Graphics
1839
Square octavo. (18)pp. At each spread, a photocollage appears at left which sets a portrait against a starkly contrasting background: an image of Emmitt Till, for example, lies against a...
Square octavo. (18)pp. At each spread, a photocollage appears at left which sets a portrait against a starkly contrasting background: an image of Emmitt Till, for example, lies against a racially charged image of slaves dancing next to riverboats; one of Viola Gregg Liuzzo appears with a minstrel illustration; and one of Martin Luther King, Jr., is portrayed against a Georgia peach. At each facing page is a description of the Civil Rights activist or icon and the circumstances of their murder, and in the corner a song from the American South. Adding to the sense of loss and violence is a circle cut through the book, beginning at the "o" in the upper cover title and piercing the foreheads of the victims. The final spread shows a white woman set over a photograph of the March on Washington, and in the place of the song lyrics is "We Shall Overcome." Staple-bound in white wrappers. Trace soiling. About fine.