Warscapes

James Baldwin often journeyed to Turkey to escape the pressures of 1960's America, where his status as both black and gay, in combination with his rising celebrity during that time, heaped pressure on the young writer. Sedat Pakay's Bearing Witness from Another Place contains photographs and essays by noted scholars and writers who use Baldwin's time in Turkey to try to understand the author as a person.

In an interview with the History News Network, Pakay said about Baldwin: "I always tell them what directed his life was love. He basically wanted people of all colors and races and nationalities to live together, to understand the humanity in all of us. To me, that’s what James Baldwin represents -- that we shouldn’t divide people into categories according these specifications. What he wanted was synthesis of races, black and white. Everybody should live together and love one another."

Sedat Pakay is a Turkish photographer whose work has included films and photography focusing on influential 20th century writers.


Image via The Stranger.


Image via The Stranger.


Image via The Stranger.


Image via The Stranger.


Image via Brill Gallery.


Image via Marquand Books. 


Image via Marquand Books.


Image via History News Network.

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