"I Photographed January 6. Trump’s Pardons Can’t Erase What I Saw." --Gallery Photographer Nate Gowdy

Via Columbia Journalism Review

February 4, 2025

Reflections from an independent photojournalist.

5:07:45 PM, January 6, 2021, US Capitol, Washington, DC

America loves to rebrand its sins as myth. In four years, MAGA loyalists have recast the January 6 insurrection as resurrection. (All photos by Nate Gowdy)

February 4, 2025

By Nate Gowdy

"This is why I document: America loves to rebrand its sins as myth. In four years, MAGA loyalists have rewritten January 6 from every angle. Rioters have been framed as leftists in disguise, police as “crisis actors,” the attack an FBI setup—or, more outrageously, citizens on a “normal tourist visit.” By 2025, revisionism is big business. Conservative media churns out books, podcasts, and stump speeches recasting insurrection as resurrection. But my images tell another story: they depict a nation in fracture, where well-meaning neighbors and dutiful relatives cling to their “Big Lie” with an unwavering sincerity that doesn’t just reject facts—it inoculates against them, leaving everyone vulnerable to propaganda and less capable of critical thought." 

Full article here:  I Photographed January 6. Trump’s Pardons Can’t Erase What I Saw. - Columbia Journalism Review

Artists behind Montgomery MAGA Bloody Sunday billboard: Removal a ‘clear act of censorship’

 

Via ARTnews

"We are dismayed but not surprised by the removal of this artwork,” Gottesman said in a statement to ARTnews. “This clear act of censorship underscores the urgency of For Freedoms’ mission to promote free speech and creative expression. One of our missions is to be visionary, not reactionary. This work was created nine years ago, in collaboration with artist Spider Martin, and juxtaposes his historic image with a political slogan that we hope will spark conversation, reflection and deeper thinking.

“We can disagree and dislike what others say but still support their rights to express it,” Gottesman continued. “Part of what makes America great is the freedom to express ourselves, we see this censorship as antithetical to this core freedom and to our mission as an organization.”

The billboard featured a Spider Martin photograph of state troopers staring down Black protestors during a legendary 1965 demonstration in Selma known as Bloody Sunday, during which police officers violently confronted those in attendance. Over that picture, For Freedoms placed text reading MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, a reference to a slogan associated with President Donald Trump."

Via AL.com Alabama

Artists behind Montgomery MAGA Bloody Sunday billboard: Removal a ‘clear act of censorship’