A Visual Journey: Photographs (of the counterculture) by Lisa Law 1965 - 1971

(image copyright Lisa Law)

It [the counterculture] was an attempt to rebel against the values our parents had pushed on us. We were trying to get back to touching and relating and living.

-Lisa Law, 1985

Historical Background

In the 1950s, the culture reflected on TV, taught in school, and promoted by political and religious leaders prescribed an ideal for American life. This American way of life was the means to achieve and sustain political freedom and middle-class comfort. In the Cold War with the Soviet Union, Americans could protect their freedoms and prosperity by fulfilling set roles and respecting authority. For a generation that had struggled through the Great Depression and fought World War II, conformity was a small price to pay for stability and prosperity.

Yet some who grew up in this postwar world felt its expectations were restricting and its rewards unsatisfying. Security and conformity seemed less important than self-expression. Material success and prestige did not seem as desirable as meaningful human relationships. As they gradually became aware of poverty and racial injustice in America, some young people questioned the accepted view of the United States as an ideal and fully free society.

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Great series of photos and historical information from a true insider and documenter of the 60s counterculture movement at the title link, image goes to larger version at flickr.

(protest'd from PCL LinkDump)