Jacques Lowe (1930-2001), untitled, c. 1960, gelatin silver print. Middlebury College Museum of Art. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Stephen Nicholas, 2015.130.

Jacques Lowe was an internationally respected photojournalist with a distinguished career of work as a magazine photographer. During John F. Kennedy’s campaign for the presidency, Lowe was the official campaign photographer. When the Kennedys moved to the White House, he became the President’s personal photographer. After the assassination of his friend Robert Kennedy, he moved to France, where he lived for eighteen years before returning to New York to renew his career. He published over thirty books on a variety of topics. In 1998, Lowe mounted a major exhibition at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters, which was opened by Ambassador Felix Rohatyn.

In addition to portraits and commercial assignments, Lowe took many photographs of children, often his own. In this photograph, a boy balances on a tree trunk, capturing the innocence of a carefree day in the woods. This earthly paradise differs markedly from the felled trees in Robert Adams apocalyptic views of clear-cutting.