There’s a new free-spirit movement afoot, and it has more to do with meditation, yoga, fellowship, good vibes, communal celebration, and a search for the divine than it does with the mind-altering substances of its 60s predecessor. In Bliss: Transformational Festivals & the Neo Hippie, Steve Schapiro, a photographer famous for his photographs of the original hippie era in San Francisco and beyond, follows his son on his journey for enlightenment at “transformational festivals” held throughout the country: music festivals in Washington, peace gatherings in Oregon, sacred meetings in California, weekend and weeklong happenings in Lincoln Park and in Black Rock Desert.
In Bliss, Schapiro focuses on a subculture of the current hippie counterculture known as “Bliss Ninnies” –individuals focused on meditation and dancing as a way to reach ecstatic states of joy. The book features images from festivals across the country and provides an overview of a new contemporary hippie life within America.
Bliss takes the viewer on a visual journey with these ecstatic bliss ninnies as they eye-gaze (a liberating form of open eye meditation), dance and revel in the divine in these compelling photographs. Their beliefs and way of life spark the question: “is the search for pure joy a search for God?” These never-before depicted scenes may indeed just answer that. The 60s are still here. You just have to find where?
BOOK
Bliss, Transformational Festivals & The Neo Hippieby
Steve Schapiro
Introduction by Theophilus Donoghue
Afterword by Wavy Gravy
powerHouse Books
Hardcover
11.5 x 9 inches
256 pages
ISBN: 978-1-57687-763-0
$65.00 US/ CAN
