Poster: Four More Years? Four More Years

N.p.: Artists' and Writers' Protest / Colorcraft, Inc, [1972]. First Edition. Original photographic poster, offset printed in colors on white stock, measuring 96.5cm x 63.5cm (ca.38" x 25"). Some minor handling, trivial wear to extremities, else very Near Fine / A (unbacked). One of the most gruesome and effective pieces of propaganda to emerge during the Vietnam War, reproducing a photograph taken during the My Lai Massacre by U.S. Army photographer Sgt. Ronald L. Haeberle. This and other iconic photos were taken by Haeberle on March 16, 1968, using his personal camera, while assigned to follow Charlie Company into My Lai. Unlike the monochrome images which he returned to the Army, shot with a standard-issue Army camera, the color images he shot with his personal camera were brought back to the States, and sold to Life magazine, after Haeberle was honorably discharged. The photos were printed in the December 5, 1969 issue of Life, offering Americans a harrowing glimpse into some of the attrocities being committed overseas; his caption beneath this image read: "Most were women and babies. It looked as if they tried to get away." The poster was designed by members of the Art Workers Coalition and initially released in 1969, using the identical image, with the overlaid text reading: "Q: And babies? A: And babies." This version, published four years later, intentionally subverts Richard Nixon's campaign slogan "Four More Years," forcing Americans to ask whether or not they wanted Nixon for another term, and by extention, another four years embroiled in foreign conflict. OCLC notes a single holding (MoMA).