Michael Katakis. Photographs and Words, with an introduction by Michael Palin, hones in on particularly significant periods of Katakis and Hardin's life's work. Each chapter tells a story through black and white images and Katakis’ journal entries, accompanied by observations and essays from his wife and travel partner, anthropologist Kris L. Hardin. The photographs provide an insight into contrasting cultures and paint intimate portraits of their subjects. Ranging from playful scenes with young local boys in a small African village, to moments of reflection with American truckers and construction workers after the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington on 11 September 2001, Katakis captures ordinary people – often before or after world-changing or tragic events.

The chapters in the book include:

• A Time and Place Before War – documenting daily life in Sierra Leone before the outbreak of the nine year civil war in 1991
• The Vietnam Veterans Memorial – touching images at the memorial in Washington DC of veterans and the friends and families of those that died
• Troubled Land: 12 days Across America – a different and disturbing portrait of the US immediately after 9/11

Katakis and Hardin donated their archives to the British Library in 2008. These consist mainly of Michael's photographs and negatives, and Kris's fieldwork notes, recordings and slides from Sierra Leone and the Library is now the repository for their entire work.

John Falconer, Lead Curator of Visual Arts and of the exhibition, comments: “In an era when the boundaries and meaning of photographic truth become increasingly confused, Michael Katakis’ works retain a refreshing and moving commitment to the values of ‘straight’ photography, for which the central requirements have always been an inquisitive eye and an open spirit.”

Michael Katakis says: “There were no answers in my photographs, no deep intellectual analyses that gave new insights or profound conclusions, no eloquent tributes, just images of people left behind to deal with the past. The legacy of war that has so often been invisible does have to do with the people left behind, their lives, and how they move on.”

Michael Palin says: “A photograph by Michael Katakis is an exercise in clarity, economy and purpose. Everything, from his respect for his subjects to his eloquent use of light, shows a quiet and powerful confidence at work. His photographs treat the world with dignity.”

In addition to Michael Katakis. Photographs and Words, Katakis has produced a number of books, including Traveller: Observations from an American in Exile, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial and, as editor, Excavating Voices: Listening to Photographs of Native Americans and his work has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. The Library’s exhibition of Katakis’ work was supported by The Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library. The Eccles Centre also funded several oral history interviews of Katakis and Hardin for the collections, providing more insight to the archives.

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