Angels, anarchists& gods

the long version

Christopher Felver's photographs testify to the spirit's vitality in late-twentieth-century America. In Angels, Anarchists & Gods, Felver assembles a community of individuals whose lives and work nourish America's historic dream of freedom, justice, and human decency. The citizens of Felver's republic are eminent figures in American arts, letters, music, and politics who, as Douglas Brinkley writes in his introduction, "are not afraid of controversy or challenging the status quo." Photographing these visionaries led Felver on a twenty-year cross-country odyssey. In the resulting photographs we sense Felver's philosophical kinship with his subjects, by the direct, ingenuous demeanor he elicits from each. . The two hundred images in Angels, Anarchists & Gods speak to the shared cultural heritage of unrestrained voice and stubborn struggle. Behind every one is the sharp, caring eye of a man whose passion for great art and social justice converge to form an intimate tribute to the progressive energizers of the human spirit.