Up Against The Lens

Explore the powerful images of Alan Parson documenting the Berkeley rebellion from 1967 to 1972.

Reagan Greeted By Protesters At UC Berkeley 1968 - And An Egg (upper right)

There are moments when the tectonic plates of history shift, and the world is forever changed. Between 1967 and 1972, the ground shook hardest in Berkeley, California. It was an era of profound upheaval, a collision of generations and ideologies that played out not in quiet debate, but in the streets, on the campus plazas, and in the smoky haze of tear gas.

This was the landscape captured by photographer Alan Parsons. More than a detached observer, Alan was a participant, a witness who stepped into the heart of the storm with his camera. He was, in the truest sense, Up Against The Lens—his body in the crowd, his eye pressed to the viewfinder, his lens focused on the raw, unfiltered truth of a generation in revolt.

His photographs are not silent artifacts. They are alive with the defiant energy of the time. You can see it in the faces of the students—a mixture of fierce conviction, youthful idealism, and weary resolve. You can feel the tension in the rigid lines of police in riot gear, a stark symbol of the authority being challenged. You can almost hear the chants to stop the draft, the impassioned speeches for Eldridge Cleaver and the Third World Liberation Front, the roar of a crowd unified in its demand for a different, better world.

From the fight to establish Black and Ethnic Studies to the massive protests against the war in Vietnam, Berkeley was the epicenter of a cultural earthquake. Alan’s work documents this historic period with an intimacy and immediacy that is both breathtaking and vital. He didn't just photograph events; he captured the human spirit at its most vulnerable and its most powerful.

This collection is a tribute to Alan Parsons and his unblinking eye. It is also a testament to the young people who stood up, spoke out, and risked everything for what they believed in. These images invite us to look past the headlines and see the faces of history, to understand the passion that fueled a rebellion, and to remember a time when to be young was to believe you could change the world.