A Tribute to Our Friend, Photographer and Organizer Bob Fitch by Josh Sonnenfeld, and Paul Ortiz
Beyond doing the dishes, photography was Bob’s skill that he could offer – and he did so with incredibly regularity and personal sacrifice over many decades. He understood that by taking photos, he was providing a service, allowing a more true story to be heard, amidst the spin of our opponents and distortion of the mainstream media. He knew that his job was to show up, “keep his mouth shut,” and “DFIU” (don’t ‘mess’ it up). His approach, in turn, engendered a deep level of trust by almost all with whom Bob worked – to the point that they would open up their lives, families and struggles for Bob to document. This makes Bob’s photographic archives (now stored at Stanford University, free for all to download and print – at his insistence) one of the most incredible and deeply personal records of social movement history in the U.S. over the past 50 years.
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by Josh Sonnenfeld, and Paul Ortiz
Beyond doing the dishes, photography was Bob’s skill that he could offer – and he did so with incredibly regularity and personal sacrifice over many decades. He understood that by taking photos, he was providing a service, allowing a more true story to be heard, amidst the spin of our opponents and distortion of the mainstream media. He knew that his job was to show up, “keep his mouth shut,” and “DFIU” (don’t ‘mess’ it up). His approach, in turn, engendered a deep level of trust by almost all with whom Bob worked – to the point that they would open up their lives, families and struggles for Bob to document. This makes Bob’s photographic archives (now stored at Stanford University, free for all to download and print – at his insistence) one of the most incredible and deeply personal records of social movement history in the U.S. over the past 50 years.