Questions Without Answers: The World in Pictures by the Photographers of VII

by David Friend, VII Photo Agency LLC (Photographer)

This major work presents a remarkable sequence of photo-stories from pioneering photo agency VII, documenting world history as we have experienced it since the end of the Cold War. The 11 extraordinarily talented photographers who make up this agency work at the cutting edge of digital photojournalism, committed to recording social and cultural change as it happens around the world.

Questions Without Answers is an ambitious book featuring a strikingly broad selection of photo stories. Photos documenting Barack Obama giving a speech on Afghanistan to American troops sit alongside a collection of portraits featuring famous cultural figures such as David Bowie and Bernardo Bertolucci. We move from an exploration of the spread and impact of AIDS in Asia to dispatches from the current economic crisis and its effect on those working in finance. The crucial work done by VII in documenting conflict - environmental, social and political, both violent and non-violent - is also represented, including stories from the war in Iraq, the crisis in Darfur and the terrible events of 9/11.

With an introduction by the eminent David Friend, Vanity Fair 's editor of creative development and the former director of photography of Life magazine, this book is an important, moving and compelling record of the world we live in.

Genres: Photography

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

David Friend is an editor, author, and award-winning documentary producer with a career spanning journalism, photography, and film. Since 1998, he has been the editor of creative development at Vanity Fair, following his tenure as Life magazine’s director of photography. His work has shaped major journalistic projects, including the 2005 Vanity Fair story that revealed FBI insider Mark Felt as “Deep Throat,” the confidential Watergate source. He also played a key role in expanding Vanity Fair into books, e-books, television, and digital media, launching VanityFair.com.
As an author, Friend has explored cultural and historical themes in books such as Watching the World Change: The Stories Behind the Images of 9/11 (2006), The Naughty Nineties (2017), and two volumes on human existence, The Meaning of Life and More Reflections on the Meaning of Life. In the realm of documentary film, he is an Emmy- and Peabody-winning producer, with projects including Lakota Nation vs. United States (2023), MLK/FBI (2021), and the widely broadcast CBS prime-time special 9/11.
Beyond journalism and film, Friend has covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and the Middle East, coedited 13 Vanity Fair books, and curated photography exhibitions on three continents. His poetry has been published in The New Yorker, further highlighting the breadth of his creative work.

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to look through.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

not not not for the faint of heart or those easily disheartened, as VII sends their photo-journalists to the hotspots of the globe for famines, wars, sex trades, indian massacres, freedom fights, earthquakes, usa politics (ugly), usa wars, russian wars, mormons, etc etc each journalist has a very short essay and captioned photos.
sudan
hurricanes
gaza
malaria
lebenon
inidan hiways
deforestation
somalia
ossetia
kashmir
wall st
congo
china
arab spring
etc
etc