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Now

Poster
1963 (published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Danny Lyon is a self-taught photographer and filmmaker. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Lyon is of Jewish (German & Russian) heritage and primarily works in the USA. He pursued his BA in History at the University of Chicago in 1963, where he also worked as a staff photographer for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The SNCC was birthed in the early 1960’s and was made up of Black college students across America, who practiced peaceful protests against institutional segregation and that in local communities. After several years of heightened protest, the single word Now had come to be a powerful demand for civil rights in America in the early 1960s and sits boldly at the top right corner of this poster. This call to action shares space with two young participants in the SNCC march in Washington D.C. on August 28th 1963.

This was incremental to his career as a photographer as he spent much of his life recording historical events related to the civil rights movement and the political atmosphere within the United States in the late 1900’s. Today, Lyon is an associate at Magnum and has received numerous accolades from the likes of the Guggenheim, the Rockerfeller Foundation, and The International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleNow (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Offset lithgraph
Brief description
'Now', poster produced for the Student Nonviolent Cordinating Commitee, photograph by Danny Lyon; Atlanta, 1963
Physical description
Portrait format poster printed in monochrome from photographic image of group of black people, principally, to foreground, two young men, facing camera, the one on the right has a raised arm reaching up to the lettering NOW in top right corner of image. Below the image lettering STUDENT NON VIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE etc.
Dimensions
  • Sheet height: 561mm
  • Sheet width: 356mm
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
Danny Lyon Lincoln Lithograph Company (Makers's mark; lower margin; lithography)
Gallery label
The single word ‘Now’ conveys the urgency of the American civil rights movement. Here it is combined with Danny Lyon’s image of the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. The intimate portrait of these two peaceful protestors provides a powerful image of black youth and their struggle for equality. A World to Win, galleries 88a and 90 (1 May to 2nd Nov 2014)(01/05/2014)
Production
Attribution note: This was one of a number of posters produced by Danny Lyon for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee between 1962 and 1964
Reason For Production: Private
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
Danny Lyon is a self-taught photographer and filmmaker. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Lyon is of Jewish (German & Russian) heritage and primarily works in the USA. He pursued his BA in History at the University of Chicago in 1963, where he also worked as a staff photographer for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The SNCC was birthed in the early 1960’s and was made up of Black college students across America, who practiced peaceful protests against institutional segregation and that in local communities. After several years of heightened protest, the single word Now had come to be a powerful demand for civil rights in America in the early 1960s and sits boldly at the top right corner of this poster. This call to action shares space with two young participants in the SNCC march in Washington D.C. on August 28th 1963.

This was incremental to his career as a photographer as he spent much of his life recording historical events related to the civil rights movement and the political atmosphere within the United States in the late 1900’s. Today, Lyon is an associate at Magnum and has received numerous accolades from the likes of the Guggenheim, the Rockerfeller Foundation, and The International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum.
Collection
Accession number
E.2740-1995

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Record createdFebruary 28, 2003
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