America in Crisis

Thoughtful exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery of photographs from the USA from the 1960s and now.

The title came from a 1968 book and installation by Magnum Photos in which 18 photographers explored the idea of the American Dream versus the reality of life there at the time. This was then updated with images from the last 5 years. The historical and contemporary work was hung side by side and set up interesting visual conversations.

There were some lovely images. I liked Zora Murff’s modern picture of a US flag through trees and an Eve Arnold from the 1960s of a woman chitting apples under a tree. There were some stunning images by Balazs Gardi of the Capitol Riot and one by Rose Marie Cromwell of a Biden supporter in a  deflated Trump costume.

To match the original idea of an installation there was a room with three screens on which the photographs were shown in a random order which made you think of the images in a different way and make new connections between them.

The image I’ve used is of recent floods in Florida by Anastasia Samoylova. I loved the fact it’s a real image but has a surreal quality. 

Closed 3 April 2022

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