New monograph at The New Orleans Photography Workshops library
Nina Berman was one of the first photographers in the US to turn her lens towards her own country, whilst all eyes were on Iraq. She was awarded international prizes in photojournalism from World Press Photo (2005, 2007) and DAYS Japan (2005) for her work on young American veterans coming back from war, widely exhibited and published in the book Purple Hearts - Back from Iraq. In Homeland Berman is an American again looking at America. A product of seven years work, with images from across the country, Berman gives us a peek into the bizarre manifestations of the homeland security state and the ideologies that have reshaped post 9-11 America.
Released to coincide with the US Presidential election of 2008, Nina Berman in Homeland has captured further the unsettling and surreal in her own country over recent years. She has witnessed the rise of the super churches, and photographed military demos, recruitment centres and air fairs where you are never too young to have your own gun. Happy families step through suburbs clutching anti-nuke pills. Small town police train to hunt Al-Qaeda. Military goats perform in 'War On Terror' scripts. And beneath it all stands the image of a warrior Jesus inspiring megachurch millions toward the end times.
Underlying Berman's technicolour images is a sense of fear under the guise of the banal. She sees the growing elements of fanaticism and faith in guns and God, creeping through a cross-section of American society. One asks, are the scenes real, or an elaborate state-sponsored performance art, designed to amuse a public desperately seeking a superhero ending in an age of empire decline?
With an afterword by Michael Shaw, visual critic and creator of Bagnewsnotes.com
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