War Time
Implicit in these images was a recognition and contemplation of the history of photographic images of war, one of the staples of photography since its infancy in the mid-19th century. Although there are obvious references to the stereotypical images that we associate with war—of assembly, ceremony, national mobilization, destruction—I sought instead to look for subtler visual traces that spoke to the mood of somber understatement, a muted response from a populace that, collectively, was content to quietly disagree and at times ignore the immoral and violent consequences of the actions taken by our government.
The project revolved around a converging trio of consequential events in the early years of the new millennium: the War in Iraq, the War on Terror, and the 2004 re-election of George W. Bush. Depicted is a populace that has been both psychologically manipulated and dumbed down to passively accept the horrors being committed daily in its name, revealing a surrender that was emblematic of the pliable culture of that American moment. I scanned the periphery of events and places of some significance to what was going on overseas: National Guard installations, war memorials, military towns, New York City during the 2004 Republican National Convention, Washington, D.C. in the last days before the 2004 Presidential election. In a country with an all-volunteer army, the relative absence of the effects of war was striking. SEE RELATED FILM