Bliss: Transformational Festivals & the Neo Hippie

by Steve Schapiro (Photographer), Wavy Gravy (Afterword), Theophilus Donoghue (Introduction)

In An Exploration of the Current Hippie Counterculture & Transformational Festivals, Steve Schapiro, famous for his photographs of the 60s--including Haight-Ashbury and the hippies of that era--documents the hippies of today and their lives in and out of transformational festivals. With a specific focus on a subculture of the current hippie counterculture known as "Bliss Ninnies," these individuals are focused on meditation and dancing as a way to reach ecstatic states of joy. The book features images from festivals across the country and provides an overview of a new contemporary hippie life within America. The 60s are still here. You just have to find where.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2015

Reviews

[Frederic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Photographs of today's "bliss ninnies" by one of the noted photographers of the original hippie movement. Large photos well reproduced, and the tie-dye-like cloth binding is a nice touch. There's a very short introduction, and a short afterword by Wavy Gravy, and a few pages of text profiles of some of the (presumably) featured people, but otherwise just uncaptioned photos, sorted by location but otherwise unidentified. The lack of information or reflexive distance (as understandable as the latter may be, given that it's current rather than historic for now) make this much less interesting than something like, say, Taylor Camp. John Wehrheim.