American photography is characterised by tensions, according to Mike Morrish, tensions between the urban and rural, rich and poor, commerce and art. He argued that these tensions arise from America’s absorption with itself and the long held, but once less stridently expressed, view of ‘America first’. The photography is also shaped by magazines, like Life, and agencies like Magnum. Using the context set by these issues Mike showed pictures under three headings: events (photography as witness), e.g. Alfred Stieglitz, John Filo; places (cityscapes and landscapes), e.g. Berenice Abbott, Lee Friedlander; and people (concern for humanity), e.g. William Klein and Eve Arnold.
Photo: Eve Arnold, Marilyn Monroe, 1960,