DENNIS STOCK – CALIFORNIA TRIP
2019-09-09In 1968, Magnum photographer Dennis Stock took a freewheeling five-week road trip up and down the California highways, documenting the counterculture hippie scene at its height. These black and white photos were compiled to create what would become a cult classic: California Trip. Originally published in 1970, the book became an emblem of the free love movement that continued to inspire people throughout the decades. Just as Stock’s portraits of James Dean introduced us to the icon of a generation, his photos of the free spirits and landscapes of California captured the essence of a place where everything seemed possible. “The pursuit of the best of all possible worlds” was the Rule.
1968 marked a year of social, cultural and political revolution. This was particularly true in California where Stock writes in his foreword: “technological and spiritual quests vibrate throughout the state.” Stock’s words “Our future is being determined in the lab out West” resonate today, as California remains the land that dreams of a better life, where the future is constantly being reinvented.
In print for the first time since its 1970 publication, California Trip is a faithful reproduction of Stock’s timeless work.
