Photo Finish: Don Hudson’s View of the World

Above: “Malcolm X, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1974.” © Don Hudson

Don Hudson, in my opinion, is a photographic purist with an honest and keen sense of humor that I find charming and refreshing. His take on photography is straightforward: “From the very beginning of my coming-of-age photographically (about 1972), the core of my relationship with the camera has been one of respect for how it is able to transform the world I observe. This is fundamental to me, and I suppose others as well, and it imposes rules that I have always followed—no manipulation and no cropping,” he explains.

I asked Hudson about his latest book, From the Archives, by Editions FP&CF, which includes photos of Michigan taken between 1973 and 1987, images described on photography site American Suburb X (ASX) as capturing “the days of the drive-in movie and non-chain fast food, small town football and very frequent parades.” 

The book, Hudson says, stands as “a humble testimony to the breakdown of time and space.” 

Don Hudson is a member of the international photo collective Burn My Eye. See more of his work here.