Clarence John Laughlin

A dream of Pearls

Women Reflected in a Mirror

The Strange Sisters

Basic Information:
Clarence John Laughlin was born 1905 and died on January 2, 1985. He was an american photographer, best known for his surrealist photographs of the U.S. South. Laughlin was born into a middle class family in Lake Charles, Louisiana. His rocky childhood, southern heritage, and his interest in literature influenced his work. As a kid, he had a close relationship with his father. When his father died in 1918, his grief over the lose was very overwhelming. He began to have a deep suspicion of religion when his priest falsely promised that God would save his ailing parent if he prayed hard enough. His suspicion surfaced his most frequent works. Even though he dropped out in high school, his large vocabulary and love for literature were used for captions to accompany his photography. Laughlin discovered photography when he was 25 years old. He taught himself the basic camera skills, using a simple 2 1/2 by 1/4 view camera. He had a wide range of photographic styles and techniques including capturing straightforward geometric abstractions.

His work:

His work contains many elements of surrealism. Laughlin was actually credited to be the first surrealist in the US. His images are often found to be nostalgic. His best book, "Ghosts Alng the Mississippi." was first published in 1948. "Ghosts Along the Mississippi" is a book full of Laughlin's best pictures of the south. However, the public didn't like his photograghy back then. He had many criticizes and negative views. This was because his work often captured disturbing sense of self-righteousness, the evil and poverty that he saw in the world. Throughout his work, he had associates, which included photographers Minor White, Wynn Bullock, and Edward Weston. He died on January 2, 1985. He left behind a huge collection of books and images.