In an Age of Image Overload, AIPAD’s The Photography Show Reminds Us What a Photograph Can Do

 Via The Observer

April 23, 2026

Across historic masters, frontline documentarians and experimental voices, the fair builds a compelling case for a medium that keeps expanding without losing what makes it irreplaceable.

Ashley Gilbertson, Monsters on Halloween, 2025. © Ashley Gilbertson

Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

"In the booth of Santa Fe-based Monroe Gallery of Photography, whose mission is to champion precisely those images from the 20th and 21st Centuries that exist at the singular intersection of art and journalism, is a powerful wall ensemble: two photographic portraits by Ron Haviv of figures who have already become emblematic of our troubled era—Mamdani and Zelensky—are paired with recent works capturing, in unfiltered black and white, the silent violence of ICE raids across the country as well as the vital pushback of protests in Minneapolis and beyond. Included are dramatic images by Ashley Gilbertson documenting ICE actions in Chicago; his series Monsters on Halloween captures agents driving through neighborhoods in Niles, Illinois, for hours, stopping and detaining landscapers and construction workers as residents emerge from their homes to film and protest. Mark Peterson documents ICE protests at 26 Federal Plaza in New York, and Ryan Vizzions crystallizes into an image that already feels historical, capturing the memorials following the killing of Renee Good by ICE in Minneapolis. The people portrayed here are shown as vulnerable within broader systems and dynamics, yet resilient in the strength of community.

These are “images that are embedded in our collective consciousness and which form a shared visual heritage for human society,” founder Sid Monroe told Observer, when asked about the significance of photojournalism in an era of manipulated media. Also in the booth is a group of images from Diné (Navajo) photographer Eugene Tapahe’s “Jingle Dress Project,” which aims to bring global attention to Native American issues, including land acknowledgment, women’s rights and, most urgently, the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). A powerful image of fierce Native American sisters standing in the snow against a bright blue sky, dressed in traditional, colorful clothing—resolute and determined as they face the unknown horizons of their culture—is an absolute standout of this edition.

Eugene Tapahe, Togetherness, Sisters, Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, Goshute and Timpanogos, 2023 Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

Completing the presentation are vintage photographs, including iconic shots by Tony Vaccaro, ranging from Enzo Ferrari and Ferrari cars to portraits of contemporary masters such as Alexander Calder in his studio. Notably, all works in Monroe’s booth—whether historically significant or iconic—remain relatively accessible, with most priced between $3,500 and $7,500."