Arnold, Eve. In America by Eve Arnold.

Knopf, 1983.  207 pages. First edition. Near fine in hardcover with near fine protected dust jacket.  Color photographs, mostly portraits, by Eve Arnold of a wide cross section of the United States population, from business leaders to homeless people, adherents to a variety of religions, workers in many different professions, Ku Klux Klan members, police, military cadets, artists, prisoners, local government leaders, et al.  Most  are identified by station in life or occupation, with some identified by name, e.g. Anjelica Huston and Shakira (Mrs. Michael) Caine.  Born in Philadelphia, Eve Arnold  (1912-2012), OBE, Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, was a photojournalist and long-term resident in the UK. She joined Magnum Photos in 1951 and became a full member in 1957. She was the first woman to join Magnum.  Arnold published 11 other books, including The Unretouched Woman (1976), Flashback! The ‘50’s (1978); In China (1980), The Great British (1991), and All About Eve (2012). Her photographs appear in many other books, including The Family of Man, The Family of Woman, Master Photographers, Aperture, No. 151. Photographers on Photographers, and collections of Magnum photos. In 1980, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Magazine Photographers. Summary: 

In America by Eve Arnold is a major photographic book published in 1983 in which the acclaimed Magnum photojournalist returns to her native United States to document the rich diversity and contradictions of American life. Over the course of about two years and 36 states, Arnold captured a wide range of people, places, and scenes that together form a complex visual portrait of the country in the late 20th century.

Scope and Content

Rather than presenting a single theme, In America brings together hundreds of color photographs that reveal the social fabric of life across the United States. Arnold’s images range from everyday scenes—including flea markets, industrial landscapes, and ordinary people at work or at rest—to striking portraits of individuals who embody particular facets of American experience. This includes figures such as prisoners and mounted police in Texas, a Navajo matriarch in Arizona, and an elderly woman in a Los Angeles nursing home, illustrating the nation’s diversity of race, class, age, and circumstance.

Style and Perspective

Arnold’s approach in In America reflects her broader career as a humanist photojournalist: she combines empathy with keen observation, seeking not just surface detail but the humanity of her subjects. Her photographs don’t merely record scenes—they explore the identity and nuance of American life, often revealing subtle emotional or cultural truths. She brings to the project “the familiarity of a native and the freshness of a visitor,” allowing her to look at familiar landscapes and communities with renewed insight.

Significance

In America stands as one of Arnold’s most important books, offering a comprehensive visual anthropology of the United States in the late 20th century, seen through the lens of one of the most respected photographers of her generation. The book emphasizes both unity and contrast in American life, showing a nation composed of varied peoples, places, and stories bound together in a complex, compelling whole.

Eve Arnold (1912–2012) was an acclaimed American photojournalist who made history in 1957 by becoming the first woman to join the prestigious Magnum Photos agency as a full member. Launching her career in the early 1950s after studying at the New School for Social Research under Alexey Brodovitch, Arnold became celebrated for her empathetic, candid, and intuitive approach to document both high-profile public figures and marginalized communities. She built lasting relationships with notable icons like Marilyn Monroe, Malcolm X, Joan Crawford, and Queen Elizabeth II, while simultaneously creating powerful photo-essays on Harlem fashion shows, migrant workers, Civil Rights protests, and life inside China, Russia, and South Africa. Characterized by her use of natural light and her ability to gain the deep trust of her subjects, Arnold produced an indelible body of work that bridged intimate portraiture with landmark social documentary over more than five decades.