Clarence john laughlin biography of mahatma

American photographer (1905–1985)

Clarence John Laughlin (1905 – January 2, 1985) was an American photographer best known for his surrealist photographs of the American South.

Biography

Early life

Laughlin was born into a middle-class family in Lake Charles, Louisiana. His rocky childhood, southern heritage, and interest in literature influenced his work greatly.

Clarence john laughlin biography of mahatma

After losing everything in a failed rice-growing venture in 1910, his family was forced to relocate to New Orleans where Laughlin's father found work in a factory. Laughlin was an introverted child with few friends and a close relationship with his father, who cultivated and encouraged his lifelong love of literature and whose death in 1918 devastated his son.

Although he dropped out of high school in 1920 after having barely completed his first year, Laughlin was an educated and highly literate man. His large vocabulary and love of language are evident in the elaborate captions he lat