Flower Power Flashback

Robert Altman is a visionary artist whose work reflects a rebellious spirit. Altman — not the late filmmaker of the same name — was one of the earliest staff photographers for Rolling Stone magazine, where he documented the cultural changes of the 1960s, from anti-war sit-ins to psychedelic be-ins (above). Many of his '60s images came out in a book last year, and now they're traveling in an exhibition, currently at Idea Generation Gallery in London through August 29.

This body of work is a unabashedly fond look back at the hippy movement. “Part of the magic of The Sixties was that we knew there were thousands and thousands, perhaps millions, of us spread beyond the United States and all across the world,” Altman says. “I absolutely knew that this was something different and something very special. Those days were unlike any our generation had even heard of before, much less experienced.”

In their evocative nostalgia, Altman's vintage pictures indicate how much the times have indeed a-changed. "Of course, he’s a sympathetic observer – he’s photographing his own – but this is nevertheless a true portrayal of his age," says Idea Generation's Hector Proud of Altman. "You get a real sense of the drama, excitement, hope, anger, and idealism of the time.... He's ensured that the sixties and what it represented to him and his contemporaries will endure for as long as we look at these pictures.” — Jack Crager