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PREFACE
Ah! happy years! once more who would
not be a boy? Byron
In a world grown increasingly complex,
where violence and confusion are commonplace, the human heart
leaps at the recall of innocence. This book is a testament to
the beauty of innocence, and to the human capacity for recalling
that beauty.
To a boy, boyhood is timeless and
eternal. There seems to be no tomorrow. To the adult observer,
boyhood lasts but a fleeting moment; it is gone in the twinkling
of an eye. The art of capturing the fleeting moment in time has
long been the province of the poet, the painter - and especially
the photographer, who, through the selective eye of his camera,
captures and preserves forever the ephemeral image.
In this book we have tried to assemble
a group of photographs which epitomize the irrepressible spirit
of youth. It is less a documentary than an idyl, meant to be
enjoyed as a boy enjoys a summer day. If the emphasis here is
on the outdoor life, then this is because we as city-dwellers
preferred to think of boys close to nature: fishing, swimming,
camping, making "one long bathing of a summer's day."
or just lazing away the days "that were as long as twenty
are now.'' There are scenes of school, of course, and even some
of boys working, but basically these are happy, carefree boys,
enjoying the long halcyon days when all the world seems made
just for them, and summer stretches a mile long. Free from adult
curbs and restraints, they explore the world about them with
all the freshness and exuberance of youth, darting through waterfalls,
exploring great cities, charting secret places, whether in Barcelona
or Bayonne, Corsica or California.
From thousands of pictures taken
in all parts of the world, we selected those which seemed to
us to possess that vital spark. While we tried to suggest the
variety and scope of the world of boyhood, inclusiveness was
always subordinated to the individual picture. Many of these
pictures are technically superb; others are here because they
have a sense of the "captured moment" when a boy is
most a boy. Our only regret is for the pictures for which we
had no room.
"All joy is young," a
poet said. If through this book we have brought some part of
that joy to the reader, then our efforts will have been rewarded.
The Editors |