The cities of the 20th century thrummed like magnets, drawing in their populations from rural hinterlands and across borders and seas, their lights glowing with the promise of prosperity, fortune and fame. In Chicago and New York, people filled cafes, catwalks and discos; Swinging 60s London became the epicentre of youth culture; the 70s saw nonconformists of every psychedelic stripe make LA and San Francisco their spiritual home. In this pre-internet age, cities were the connective hubs, the centres of cultural transfer and emergent communities.
Eve Arnold is well known for her intimate portraits of Hollywood stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Joan Crawford and Angelica Huston. She also reported on the women’s rights movement, the civil rights movement in America, and the lives of working people all over the world. Robert Capa, co-founder of Magnum Photos, described Eve’s work as “Falling between Marlene Dietrich’s legs and the bitter lives of migratory potato pickers.”
In 1963, a youth-driven cultural revolution exploded onto the streets. Swinging London flooded Europe and America with its music, fashion and art. A young and restless post-war generation were making their own excitement and adventure. They rejected the music, clothes and social mores of their parents, picking up guitars, scissors and paintbrushes to take over stage, radio, television, galleries and catwalks; they filled pubs and clubs with a rock and roll sound whose roots reached back into the great blues music of the ’50s.
