Photographer Joe Melchione recounts a turbulent period in Santa Barbara's Isla Vista through his recent photographic exhibition. www.JoeMelchionephotography.com

In 1970, Isla Vista, home to the University of California's “Campus by the Sea”, witnessed an unprecedented level of political radicalism and immersion in the counterculture. Isla Vista was the last place that anyone expected this to happen.

Three full-scale riots took place in Isla Vista. The unrest reached such extremes that the National Guard was called out and occupied the town. During the course of the rebellion, one student was killed by sheriffs' gunfire and the Bank of America branch was burned to the ground.

These riots were initially sparked by the outrage that students felt about the University's highhandedness in denying tenure to a popular, but unconventional, professor. This was all against a backdrop of a growing recognition of the absurdity of the Vietnam War and the Nation's slow pace in providing equal rights to all of its citizens. The momentum for change spread to an otherwise apolitical and apathetic student body.

Melchione portrayed the group dynamics of forces arrayed against each other. His iconic photographs of National Guardsmen pointing rifles and students flashing looks of empowerment sum up that turbulent era.

“The images capture what I witnessed. I have tried to present them objectively, but I must admit that being involved in these events was more important than recording them. Nearly thirty-five years later, I am proud to say I was there and I took part and sad to say that we seem to be at it again with an increasingly senseless war in Iraq.”

-- Joe Melchione