Danny Lyon (brown cap, second from right) greets Climate Marchers to Albuquerque, summer 2014.

How was 2014 for Danny Lyon?

The year the legendary photographer and activist turned his attention towards climate change

Has any other contemporary photographer paired image-making with activism as successfully as Danny Lyon? The 72-year-old American joined the Civil Rights movement in the summer of 1962, covered the country’s outlaw motorcycle chapters during the height of their infamy, and has since borne witness to the large-scale destruction of communities in lower Manhattan; the US prison system; the Occupy movement; the changing circumstances of the citizens of Shanxi, northern China; and life on Native American reservations. In 2014, 52 years on from him first packing his Nikon Reflex to hitchhike south, Lyon continued to use his talents to speak truth to power. Read on to learn why he shifted his focus towards climate change.

 

The Police, Clarksdale, Mississippi 1962 - Danny Lyon from The Seventh Dog
The Police, Clarksdale, Mississippi 1962 - Danny Lyon from The Seventh Dog

__What was the thing that inspired you most in 2014? __

"The news that after thirteen days they were unable to reach an agreement at the UN Summit on Climate Change is alarming." 

 

__What was your personal working highlight of 2014? __

"Because I live in the south west of America, which is desert, and we live on irrigated land, I am acutely aware of lack of rain (none), an increase in winds, and the huge fires are now a way of life here."

 

What can we expect from you in 2015?

"I have been using my old Rollieflex loaded with film on a subject related to climate change. I don't like to talk too much about a work in progress. As you know Conversations with the Dead will be re-issued after being out of print for over forty years. And I spend a lot of time writing, including the blog dektol.wordpress.com." You can read Danny's latest blog on climate change Kill the Koch brothers: A grade school play here.

Danny Lyon's books are available in the store including the Collectors' Editions Three Young Men and Inside Kathy's Apartment.