Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day with the 4th Annual Honoring Native Nations Powwow on the Santa Fe Plaza

 

On Monday, October 12th, The Santa Fe Indigenous Center invites you to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day with the 4th Annual Honoring Native Nations Powwow on the Santa Fe Plaza. This special event will hold space for tribal members from all Native Nations across Turtle Island to come together and celebrate Indigenous joy and cultural resilience on the Santa Fe Plaza beginning at 9AM through 4:30PM. 

Diné (Navajo) artist Eugene Tapahe's: ART HEALS The Jingle Dress Project and Standing Rock Movement exhibit will be on view at Monroe Gallery through November 1, 2026.

 

Ania Hull: Beyond the beauty of Indian Market, deeper stories emerged

 

Via The Santa Fe New Mexican Pasatiempo

August 21, 2026

The 104th Indian Market broke me, but in a good way — in a way that only too much time in the sun and heat surrounded by so much beauty and so much storytelling you don’t know where to look and what story to hear next can.

There was also plenty of hurt under the surface. Plenty of stories that brought me back to reality and showed me so much beyond the gorgeous art displayed by almost 1,000 artists at the annual market...

After Indian Market was over, I had the opportunity to interview Sid Monroe, co-owner of the Monroe Gallery of Photography, and to visit the new exhibition of photographs by Eugene Tapahe (Diné), one of the artists who’s been a presence at Indian Market for some years now. The photographs show, among other things, scenes from Standing Rock and Minneapolis.

Sid and I discussed the lessons we — non-Indigenous, white people — should all learn from how Indigenous people come together to support each other, once again, as Indian Country. While this may be something new to us, to have to stand up to the government and to realize that we are being lied to, it’s not new for Indigenous people, nor to Black people, nor to other ethnic groups that have suffered so much we can’t even imagine what that means.

I’ll leave you with this, though: stand up for each other, especially for people who don’t have your privilege. I’ve written about it and will continue writing about it. -Ania Hull

  --full article

New Tapahe Exhibit Features Stunning Standing Rock Composite Photograph

 

NEVER FORGET, STANDING FOR UNITY

BY EUGENE TAPAHE

70”x47” archival pigment print

44 Black and White Photograph Collage

Celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Standing Rock Movement to protect the water and land in North Dakota, this collection of 44 photos was taken over four months in 2016 at the Standing Rock camps. It documents the love and unity of thousands of people from numerous ethnicities, tribes, and cultures who made a spiritual journey to stand together to protect the water and the land.

During this time, Tapahe published articles and posted photos of his experiences at camp. He was asked why he went to the Oceti Sakowin camp. “I came because the land called me. I was here in a dream long before it happened. As a Diné (Navajo), it was my responsibility to be here, to help our people, our ancestors, our water, and our land. It wasn’t just a thought; it was what is in my heart. The connection to the land and nature can't be explained. It's felt deep inside. It's sacred to all who feel it."

10 years ago, Tapahe spent months completing this project to raise awareness of this once-in-a-lifetime historical event.  Tapahe said, “The spirit in the camp was peaceful. It felt as if our ancestors were standing with us in unity around the sacred fire–singing and dancing. I sang and prayed for peace and resolve during my nights there. This spiritual awakening will always be with me as I continue my creative journey to photograph and document the beauty of Mother Earth and our people. I will never forget this courageous stand for unity."

Eugene Tapahe: ART HEALS The Jingle Dress Project and Standing Rock Movement

August 13 - November 1, 2026

Beyond the Cowboy: Human-horse Solidarity Across Time

 

Via NPQ

August 3, 2026

“Defend the Sacred.” Standing Rock, Cannon Ball, North Dakota, 2016. Ryan Vizzions.

Throughout U.S. history, horses have also played a role in Black and Indigenous political movements and land sovereignty projects.

In 2016 and 2017, the Standing Rock Sioux and their allies protested against the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline, which threatened their ancestral lands and water supplies. At the water protectors’ camp in North Dakota, horses were a common sight. Native protestors would patrol the camp on horseback to keep a lookout for law enforcement officers. At a standoff between protestors and security forces in November 2016, Democracy Now! journalist Amy Goodman interviewed a protestor who had brought their horses from Crow Creek, South Dakota. “We protected our water, and we did a good job at doing it,” the protestor told Goodman after the crowd refused to back down from pepper spray and attack dogs. In Ryan Vizzions’ iconic photo “Defend the Sacred,” a Standing Rock protestor on horseback faces a row of police officers and armored vehicles. While the rider is alone with their horse, this image is a far cry from the lone cowboy in the ICE recruitment ad. They face the police officers while knowing that entire communities are supporting them. Here, the horse and rider are not symbols of brash individualism or allegiance to a flag, but part of vast, multispecies networks that are fighting for the survival of current and future generations. The Standing Rock rider and their horse are part of a collective movement, an intergenerational struggle for the wellbeing of land, water, and people.

Full article here

Eugene Tapahe: ART HEALS The Jingle Dress Project and Standing Rock Movement

 SPECIAL INDIAN MARKET EXHIBIT

Eugene Tapahe: ART HEALS

The Jingle Dress Project and Standing Rock Movement

Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to announce a new exhibit and special reception on Thursday, August 13 from 5-7 pm during the renowned Santa Fe Indian Market weekend, the world’s largest and most prestigious Indigenous art market, now in its 104rd year.

Diné (Navajo) artist Eugene Tapahe will present an artist talk on the 10th anniversary of the Standing Rock movement for the opening of his new exhibition featuring photographs from the 2016 Standing Rock movement and his photography series titled Art Heals: The Jingle Dress Project. The exhibition continues through November 1, 2026. 

The unity and resilience of native ceremony, traditional storytelling, and the healing power of the jingle dress have connected these two historical events. Tapahe will share his insights and the dream which brought healing through his art.

Jingle Dress Dance, Standing Rock Camp (Highway 1806), ND, Native land of the Dakȟóta and Lakȟótiyapi people, 2016

Tapahe documented the strength, unity, inspiration, resilience, and hope of the Indigenous-led movement that began in April 2016 to block the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline on the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota He remembers the grace and courage of Jingle Dress dancers healing the trauma inflicted on the water protectors from  police and private security forces by water cannons, LRAD sound cannons, rubber bullets, pepper spray, mace, tear gas canisters and bean bag blasts. 

When asked “Why did you go to the Oceti Sakawin camp?”, Tapahe says “It was my responsibly to be there, to help our people, our ancestors, our water, and our land. It felt as if our ancestors were physically standing with us in unity around the sacred fire – singing and dancing with us. The spiritual awakening will be with me always as I continue my creative journey to photograph and document the beauty of Mother Earth and our people.”

Years later, Art Heals: The Jingle Dress Project originated from a dream Tapahe had during the COVID-19 pandemic, inspiring him to unite the land and people through the healing power of the Ojibwe jingle dress dance. 

Nizhoni (Beautiful), Monument Valley, Arizona, 2020

Since then, Tapahe has traveled thousands of miles documenting family members and friends dancing the healing honor dance in National Parks and Monuments, honoring the places where their ancestors once lived. Tapahe describes the images as “incredibly powerful and spiritual. Looking at them, I still can't believe I took these photographs. I believe this project is larger than myself, and I hope that when people view them, they feel the same way – that we are all blessed to be in the presence of such beauty.” 

The images have raised awareness of many Native American issues, such as land acknowledgment, women’s rights, and, most importantly, the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).  

During the project, Tapahe discovered one overarching metaphor. “I put my hand on one of the jingles and I shook it. That one jingle didn’t make any sound,” he said. “But together, they have the power to heal. As human beings, if we are able to unite ourselves and our prayers and make a beautiful sound as the jingle dress does, we could be powerful.” 

View the exhibition here

On July 2, 2026 Monroe Gallery hosted a Gallery talk with independent photojournalist Ryan Vizzions.

In September of 2016, Ryan Vizzions traveled from Atlanta, Georgia to stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock NoDAPL movement. Bringing his camera with him, but not intending to be a media source, Vizzions soon found himself using social media to reach over half a billion people with his photographic documentation of events unfolding over the months. With viral reach of one photograph in particular, "Defend The Sacred", Vizzions’ photography helped bring awareness around the world to the movement.

In late 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Vizzions embarked on a long term, multi-year project traveling and photographing across the United States to create a photography book documenting all 50 states. 

In January, 2026 Vizzions documented "Operation Metro Surge" by ICE in Minneapolis involving roughly 3,000 federal agents, leading to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti. His photograph of a masked ICE agent appeared as a full-page spread in the Sunday Opinion page of the February 1, 2026 issue of The New York Times. He has contributed considerable time to photographing and archiving the street memorial of Renee Good.

Gallery Talk - RYAN VIZZIONS: From Standing Rock To Minneapolis

  

                                       

Ryan Vizzions: Faces of Fascism, Minneapolis, January, 2026

On July 4, 2026, our nation will commemorate and celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence amid the erosion of civil rights, human rights, and democratic norms. Monroe Gallery presents a special Artist Talk in conjunction with the current exhibition "America The Beautiful".

In September of 2016, Ryan Vizzions traveled from Atlanta, Georgia to stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock NoDAPL movement. Bringing his camera with him, but not intending to be a media source, Vizzions soon found himself using social media to reach over half a billion people with his documentation of events unfolding over the months and helped bring awareness around the world to the movement.

In late 2020 Vizzions embarked on a long term, multi-year project traveling and photographing across the United States to create a photography book documenting all 50 states. Vizzions documented "Operation Metro Surge" in January, 2026 by ICE in Minneapolis involving roughly 3,000 federal agents, leading to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti. His phootograph of a masked ICE agent appeared as a full-page spread in the February 1 edition of The New York Times Opinion section.

Vizzions has contributed considerable time to photographing and archiving the street memorial of Renee Good.



Thursday, July 2, 2026

Starting promptly at 5:30 pm. Seating is limited and live on Zoom

RSVP essential to info@monroegallery.com or 505 992 0800

Zoom registration here

Ryan Vizzions: The Tender Work of Preserving Renee Good’s Memorial

 Via Hyperallergic

March 16, 2026

Ryan Vizzions is archiving the objects left at the site of Renee Good’s murder. (all photos by and courtesy Ryan Vizzions)

Ryan Vizzions, a photojournalist from Atlanta, had already arrived in Minnesota when federal immigration agents murdered poet and mother Renee Nicole Macklin Good.

For the last five years, the traveling photographer has been living out of his small van as he travels across the country for a photo survey exploring what it means to be American in all 50 states. He was taking photos at Lake Superior when he learned of Good’s killing, and drove immediately to the street where agents shot Good in her car. He arrived in time for a massive vigil held in Good’s memory.

Nearly two months after Good’s murder, Vizzions is still in Minnesota, but his focus has shifted from observation to intervention. He is now the de facto archivist of Good’s memorial site, where mourners have left hundreds of devotional objects, short notes, and artwork in protest and in grief.

Vizzions among Good memorial objects at his undisclosed storage site

“I want to make sure people in the future understand what happened here,” Vizzions told Hyperallergic in an interview.

So far, Vizzions has photographed about 200 items and relocated fragile objects to what he described as a “secret location” in the southern part of the city.

He’s left behind some items, including plastic signs, for the public to view. Alongside community members, Vizzions is maintaining the site, including by removing what he described as hundreds of pounds of decaying flowers.

Among the items Vizzions has documented is a note signed by an employee of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the agency driving the Trump administration’s escalating immigration enforcement tactics. 

“Ms. Good,” the message reads, “We will never forget you. Rest in peace and power. Your work on earth is done. Your legacy lives on.” 

The card, which is covered in stickers, is signed, “A DHS employee.”

“That was probably the most surprising because that’s somebody who is involved with the same institution that ultimately killed her,” Vizzions told Hyperallergic. 

Mourners attended a vigil for Good hours after federal agents killed her.

Vizzions made the leap from outside observer to active participant in Minneapolis’s response to Good’s murder after someone attempted to burn the memorial site and extreme winter conditions set in, threatening to destroy the makeshift monument.

On February 18, someone poured gasoline on the memorial and lit a flame. Vizzions said that he and a group of community members watching over the site at night were able to stop the fire from spreading.

While Vizzions has previously photographed political apexes, including Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock, he said he had never before inserted himself in the communities he covers.

“ As a photojournalist, oftentimes you’re divided from the community because you’re on the outside looking in,” Vizzions said. “And I wanted to serve.” 

Vizzions told Hyperallergic that Good’s parents are aware of his project and that he is in communication with a family friend who is serving as a mediator. Ultimately, Vizzions said, he will respect the family’s wishes for any next steps for the collection. He expects that some of the items could end up in the collections of private institutions or in the archives of the Smithsonian, but noted that whatever happens next will not be his decision to make. 

In the meantime, he is photographing and digitizing items from Good’s vigil so that anyone can experience them, regardless of where they live.

“It’s  really important for me to make sure that the folks who couldn’t be here, and the family who couldn’t come to the vigil because of everything happening, are able to access the memorial in person or online,” Vizzions said.

The photographer recalled one snow-covered note that made him cry. It read: “ We all carry whistles now. I hope you hear them. I hope you’re home. We all carry each other now. I know you’re with us. I know you’re home.”

The message is a nod to activists’ use of whistles to alert community members of potential immigration raids.

“It was just on a small note that was tucked somewhere,” Vizzons said. “But that’s just one of hundreds, if not thousands, of items that people have left. It’s that message and the other message that really make it feel like we have an obligation to protect these offerings that people brought to her.”

Full article here

See Ryan Vizzions' photographs from Minneapolis at The Photography Show Presented by AIPAD April 22-26, Monroe Gallery Booth B10.

 

Cincinatti Art Museum: Recall. Reframe. Respond. The Art of Paul Scott With Images By Ryan Vizzions

 Via The Cincinatti Art Museum

Sampler Jug (after Stubbs), No. 8, from the series Cumbrian Blue(s), New American Scenery, 2022, Paul Scott (British, b. 1953), transfer-printed collage on pearlware jug with "Defend The Sacred" by Ryan Vizzions, Courtesy of Paul Scott and Ferrin Contemporary, 

© 2022 Paul Scott, photo credit: John Polak

October 10, 2025–January 4, 2026

Vance Waddell and Mayerson Galleries (Galleries 124 and 125)

Free. Exhibition does not require separate tickets.

Posy Vase, No. 3, Broken Treaties & Leonard Peltier, 2025, Paul Scott (British, b. 1953), transfer print collage on pearlware posy vase with "Defend The Sacred" by Ryan Vizzions, 

 Courtesy of Paul Scott and Ferrin Contemporary, © 2025 Paul Scott

At first glance, artist Paul Scott’s transfer-printed tableware may look familiar—like something you have seen in your grandparents’ china cabinet or a second-hand shop. Look closer and you will notice subtle differences that add up to a powerful narrative shift. Scott (British, b. 1953) subverts this seemingly unassuming blue-and-white “cultural wallpaper” to create sharp, thought-provoking social commentary. Working with new ceramic forms or repurposing antique pieces, Scott breaks, reassembles, erases, and adds details using screenprinting, engraving, and collage processes to create new “historical” patterns. Broadly, his works address updated narratives about art, history and American experiences.

Based in the northwest English county of Cumbria, Scott is an artist, author, curator and educator who is best known for his unique ability to employ extensive historical and technical knowledge of ceramics to create provocative artworks and social commentary. During a visit to Ohio State University in 1999, Scott became inspired by historical British-made blue-and-white ceramic transferwares that depicted American scenes, directly engaging American consumers. After his visit, Scott challenged himself to create his own versions that recontextualize the messages embedded within these historical works by focusing on contemporary imagery and subjects. Scott’s New American Scenery series reflects his personal experiences of being and traveling in America, and, in his words, the need to “rebalance the narrative with something more contemporary and inclusive.”

Scott shares: “Industrial transferwares were part of the new media revolution in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They have always carried images and patterns which have journeyed through media, time, histories and geographies, capturing and changing meanings as they have travelled. Cumbrian Blue(s) contemporary artworks reference these original wares, so I very much enjoy opportunities which allow me to juxtapose my 21st century iterations alongside the historic in visual dialogues that act to re-animate (sometimes forgotten) objects from museum stores. For Recall. Reframe. Respond., I am excited to extend this process to include paintings, prints, photographs and other artworks from Cincinnati Art Museum’s extensive collections, creating new ‘conversations’ and reanimations.”

In addition to the Ryan Vizzions' images used on the  transfer-printed tableware, The Cincinatti Museum of Art is exhibiting a print of   "Defend The Sacred" by Ryan Vizzions.

Ryan Vizzions Photographer Inspired by Atlanta’s Legacy and Activism

 Via Discover Atlanta

March 28, 2025

 

 Ryan Vizzions describes Atlanta as a uniquely diverse melting pot shaped by its history. He credits Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the city’s role as a hub for African Americans during segregation as foundational to its identity. This legacy, he says, makes Atlanta exceptional not only in the South but across the entire country as well.

Photography as a Purposeful Journey

Ryan captured this photo during the procession of civil rights activist John Lewis. 

(Photo by Ryan Vizzions)

Vizzions’ photography began as a personal outlet but evolved into a passion for storytelling. Over the years, he embraced various forms, from photojournalism to architectural and street photography. He views his work as a medium for raising awareness and documenting social movements.

Standing Rock and Activism

This photo from Standing Rock is one of the most influential in Ryan’s career.

(Photo by Ryan Vizzions)

One of the defining moments in Vizzions’ career was his documentation of the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Inspired by a haunting resemblance to the Civil Rights era, he felt compelled to witness the movement firsthand. What began as a spontaneous trip turned into a six-month immersion, during which he lived at the camp and captured some of the most recognized images of the movement.

Honoring Atlanta’s Modern-Day Leaders

This is one of Ryan’s final images for Colors of Atlanta.

(Photo by Ryan Vizzions)

Vizzions chose to highlight contemporary changemakers for his Atlanta-focused project for “Colors of Atlanta.” He selected civil rights attorney and activist Gerald Griggs, president of the Georgia NAACP. Vizzions first met Griggs during the Black Lives Matter protests in Atlanta and later during the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial. Impressed by Griggs’ relentless advocacy in the courtroom and on the ground, Vizzions wanted to create a powerful portrait that Griggs and his family could be proud of.

Auburn Avenue: Connecting Past, Present and Future

Vizzions selected Auburn Avenue, a historic street in Atlanta, as the backdrop for his photograph. Known as Black Wall Street, Auburn Avenue holds deep cultural significance. It was home to jazz legends at the Royal Peacock and the pulpit of Dr. King at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Vizzions sought to intertwine Atlanta’s rich past with its present and future.

Stepping Beyond Photojournalism

Ryan captured the image in Auburn Avenue. (Photo by Andrew Clark)

Although Vizzions’ background is rooted in documentary and photojournalism, this project pushed him into the editorial realm. Initially nervous, he quickly found his rhythm, collaborating with Griggs to create powerful, meaningful images. He expressed pride in the final result, seeing the work as a collective achievement.

Atlanta’s Influence on his Art

Vizzions draws continuous inspiration from Atlanta. For him, photographing Atlanta is more than capturing its skyline; it’s about preserving the spirit of its people, honoring its leaders and ensuring that its legacy endures.

Learn more about other talented photographers featured on “Colors of Atlanta” and watch the TV series.

Ryan Vizzions' Iconic Standing Rock Photograph Featured in The Daly Climate Article on Greenpeace Verdict

 

Credit

Ryan Vizzions: "Defend The Sacred": Standing Rock, Cannon Ball, North Dakota, 2016

Via The Daily Climate

March 20, 2025

Greenpeace faces massive financial blow in pipeline lawsuit

EHN Curators


Greenpeace has been ordered to pay $667 million to the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline after a North Dakota jury found the environmental group defamed the company, a verdict that could have sweeping consequences for advocacy and free speech.

Anna Phillips reports for The Washington Post.

In short:The lawsuit stemmed from Greenpeace’s involvement in protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, where Energy Transfer accused the group of inciting violence and damaging its reputation. Greenpeace denies these claims and plans to appeal.

Environmentalists warn the ruling could stifle activism, making groups wary of challenging fossil fuel projects. Experts say it sends a chilling message to climate protests that disrupt infrastructure.
The case is seen as part of a broader trend of corporations using strategic lawsuits (SLAPPs) to silence critics. Unlike more than 30 other states, North Dakota lacks laws discouraging such lawsuits.

Key quote:

“We should all be concerned about the future of the First Amendment, and lawsuits like this aimed at destroying our rights to peaceful protest and free speech.”

— Deepa Padmanabha, senior legal counsel for Greenpeace USA

Why this matters:

Beyond the courtroom, the stakes are high. This case isn’t just about Greenpeace — it’s about the future of environmental protest in an era of escalating climate crisis. If the ruling stands, the next time a pipeline spills or a fossil fuel project threatens communities, who will dare to sound the alarm?

Read more:Fossil fuel companies ramp up lawsuits to silence climate activists in Europe
Governments and corporations are intensifying pressure on environmental defenders
Sacred Water: Environmental justice in Indian Country

More in The New York Times

Winona LaDuke: DAPL Pipeline Lawsuit Against Greenpeace Aims to Silence Indigenous Protests, Too

 

Via Democracy Now!

As the oil company Energy Transfer sues Greenpeace over the 2016 Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, we speak with Indigenous activist Winona LaDuke, who took part in that historic uprising. LaDuke is an enrolled member of the Mississippi Band of Anishinaabe who lives and works on the White Earth Nation Reservation and was among the thousands of people who joined the protests in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to protect water and Indigenous lands in North Dakota. She highlights the close links between North Dakota’s government and Energy Transfer and says that while the lawsuit targets Greenpeace, Indigenous water and land defenders are also on trial. “North Dakota has really been trying to squash any kind of resistance,” says LaDuke. “If they can try to shut down Greenpeace, they’re going to shut down everybody.”

Media petition North Dakota Supreme Court for expanded access to Greenpeace trial

A Tough Start for Greenpeace in Court Fight With Pipeline Giant

Morris Museum of Art: Art Now Artist Talk: Ryan Vizzions

 Via The Morris Museum of Art

           Ryan Vizzions, Defend the Sacred: Standing Rock, Cannon Ball, North Dakota, 2016

Join us for a lecture by Atlanta native, independent photojournalist Ryan Vizzions, who set out on a mission to document the United States while traveling in his van and mobile photo studio. July 14, 2022

Lecture, 6:00 pm; reception, 7:00 p.m. FREE.  Details here.

Ryan Vizzions' Standing Rock photo accompanies news release: "TigerSwan Spy Documents at Standing Rock are Public Records. Victims Appeal Lawsuit"

 

Via IndyBay

May 1, 2022

The Water Protectors of Standing Rock were the focus of two court actions this week. The North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that 60,000 spy documents of TigerSwan are public records to be released. In a separate court action, Water Protectors injured by rubber bullets and projectiles fired by law enforcement filed an appeal of a class-action civil rights lawsuit. It was earlier thrown out by the court which sided with law enforcement.

Ryan Vizzions

Water protectors use their bodies to keep law enforcement vehicles from ascending on Last Child Camp, February 1, 2017

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

Top photo by Ryan Vizzions

The North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that TigerSwan's documents from Standing Rock are public records. Confirming the ruling of the district court, the high court's ruling means that The Intercept and other news media will be able to obtain the documents.

The high court ruled that a state regulatory committee must comb through the 60,000 documents and remove those associated with trade secrets and litigation.

The lawsuit is a victory for free press. Documents that have already been leaked reveal the names of many Water Protectors who were targeted by TigerSwan at Standing Rock. Those leaked documents also expose infiltrators in the camps who attempted to entrap Water Protectors and provoke crimes.

In a separate court action, Water Protectors who were injured by rubber bullets and other projectiles fired by law enforcement filed an appeal of a case that was thrown out by the courts.

"Water Protectors filed an appeal in the Dundon v. Kirchmeier civil rights case. Dundon v. Kirchmeier is a federal civil rights class-action lawsuit in which six named plaintiffs are seeking redress on behalf of hundreds of #NoDAPL Water Protectors who were injured by law enforcement on the night of November 20, 2016," attorneys for Water Protectors said.

"On December 29, 2021, the North Dakota District Court threw out the Water Protectors’ lawsuit, finding that law enforcement was justified in unleashing a ten-hour-long barrage of impact munitions, chemical weapons, explosive grenades and freezing water on unarmed, nonviolent water protectors. The court decision was deeply flawed and let law enforcement off the hook relying heavily on the doctrine of qualified immunity."

"Despite the disappointing loss, the Water Protector Legal Collective and Cooperating Attorneys on the legal team promised to keep fighting not just in this case, but generally, reaffirming the commitment to supporting the Earth and all those in the climate justice movement who work to defend and protect Her."

"The appeal brief references over 1,700 pages of evidence refuting Morton County’s claims that law enforcement was under attack and had to inflict mass violence to avoid being overrun," attorneys for Water Protectors said.

Figge Museums "New Photography" Exhibit Includes Gallery Photographer Ryan Vizzions

 

©Ryan Vizzions: 

"Defend The Sacred", Cannon Ball, Standing Rock, Standing Rock, North Dakota, 2016

Via Quad Cities

March 24, 2022

The Figge Art Museum has an extensive photography collection that continues to grow. Beginning Saturday, visitors are invited to step into the Figge’s second-floor Lewis Gallery to view a small selection of the museum’s most recent photographic additions.

Important works by some of the most significant photographers of our time provide us with a brief survey of the collection’s recent growth and the varying impulses that guide contemporary photography, according to a Thursday museum release.

The New Photography exhibition series allows the Figge to share with the QC community some of the museum’s newly acquired works featuring objects, landscapes and figures, including photos that will adorn the Figge’s walls for years to come.

“Despite the proliferation of images made with our smart phones and circulated through social media, dedicated photographers continue to create iconic images that stand above the rest,” said Director of Collections and Exhibitions Andrew Wallace. “From the frontlines of conflict to the frontlines of daily life, photographers reward us with pictures that encourage us to look more closely at the world around us and so that we may better see ourselves.”

Acclaimed 20th-century masters including Lynn Davis and Douglas Prince — as well as recent works by Cara Romero, Victoria Sambunaris, Rebecca Norris Webb, and Ryan Vizzions — will be on view.

From the real to the surreal, the exhibition will highlight photography’s continued ability to engage, inform, and amaze. New Photography will be on view (at 225 W. 2nd St., Davenport) through July 3, 2022.

  FIGGE ART MUSEUM

225 West Second Street

Davenport, Iowa

New HBO Series "Exterminate All the Brutes" Features Ryan Vizzions Standing Rock Photographs

Trailer

VIA HBO

Premieres Wednesday, Apr. 7, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO

Exterminate All the Brutes, from acclaimed filmmaker Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro, HBO’s Sometimes in April), is a four-part hybrid docuseries that provides a visually arresting journey through time, into the darkest hours of humanity. Through his personal voyage, Peck deconstructs the making and masking of history, digging deep into the exploitative and genocidal aspects of European colonialism — from America to Africa and its impact on society today.

Based on works by three authors and scholars — Sven Lindqvist’s Exterminate All the Brutes, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, and Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s Silencing the Past — Exterminate All the Brutes revisits and reframes the profound meaning of the Native American genocide and American slavery and their fundamental implications for our present.

The series disrupts formal and artistic film conventions by weaving together rich documentary footage and archival material, as well as animation and interpretive scripted scenes that offer a counter-narrative to white Eurocentric history. Through a sweeping story in which history, contemporary life and fiction are wholly intertwined, the series challenges the audience to re-think the very notion of how history is being written.

Exterminate All the Brutes is produced by Velvet Film. Written and directed by Raoul Peck. Executive produced by Raoul Peck and Rémi Grellety.

"There’s a collage effect to its assemblage of maps, photographs, paintings, film clips, home movies, animation, nature videos, thought-experiment sketches and occasional pop-music interludes."

--Hollywood Reporter

Ryan Vizzons

Defend The Sacred, Standing Rock, Cannonball, North Dakota, 2016

One of five photographs by Ryan Vizzions featured in

"Exterminate All The Brutes"

View Ryan Vizzions' print collection here

Photography exhibition at Sioux City Art Center tells story of the American West; Features Ryan Vizzions photographs of demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline

Mary Anne Redding, curator at the Sioux City Art Center, while discussing the center's new exhibition, "Magnetic West." Photo by Jim Hynds, Sioux City Journal

Via Sioux City Journal

November 29, 2020

By Dolly Butz

SIOUX CITY -- Nearly 130 photographs of various aspects of Western life cover the third floor gallery space at the Sioux City Art Center.

"Magnetic West: The Enduring Allure of the American West," which is organized by the Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa, is the first photography exhibition of this scale organized and presented by an Iowa museum. The exhibition explores the complicated history of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean and touches on five interwoven themes: An American Eden, Theme and Variation, Identity and Experience, Going West and Home on the Range. 

Art Center Curator Mary Anne Redding said the earliest images in the exhibition are from the 1860s and 1870s. She said those images were used to create national parks and monuments in the late 1800s. 

"That was Andrew (Wallace's) premise for starting to look at how photography influenced then and continues to influence now how we understand the West," Redding said of Wallace, the Figge's director of collections and exhibitions, who curated "Magnetic West."

Mary Anne Redding, curator at the Sioux City Art Center, gestures toward "How the West Was One" by William Wilson while discussing the center's new exhibition, "Magnetic West."

She said Wallace also wanted to bring in "contemporary photographic voices," so many female, Native American, African American and Hispanic photographers' works are featured. 

"Traditionally, we have a Western European idea of what the West is, and so, a lot the photographs in this exhibition really say there are other voices that need to be part of this narrative," she said. "I do think that is the strength of the show."

You'll see Diné photographer William Wilson's self-portraits and a New Mexico moonrise by Ansel Adams, as well as photographs that touch on different aspects of Western life, including rodeo, architecture, car culture and demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Ryan Vizzions: "Defend The Sacred": Standing Rock, Cannon Ball, North Dakota, 2016

"In a lot of ways, these issues have never been resolved and we're still trying to figure it out," said Redding, who also worked with the Sioux City Public Museum to select 14 additional photographs for an auxiliary exhibition, which grounds the issues depicted in "Magnetic West" in Siouxland. 

Redding said the kinds of photographs included in "Magnetic West," which range from gelatin silver photographs to digital prints, are just as diverse as the subject matter. She pointed to a photograph of the Cerrillos Hills outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, which was taken by movie director Wim Wenders when he was scouting movie locations in the Southwest.

"It's so cinematic and it's just so romantic," she said. 

What really ties the whole show together, Redding said, are the same locations and iconic symbols of the West that photographers, both amateur and professional, are drawn to again and again, such as the Golden Gate Bridge and American bison.

"There's something for everyone to see. There's so many different points of entry," said Redding, who noted this is the last chance to see the exhibition, which debuted at the Figge over the summer. "It's here now through January 17, and then, all these photographs go back to their original owners, be it other museums, private collectors, the Figge."

Photograph Daily Podcast: Meet Ryan Vizzions

 

Via Photograph Daily


September 16, 2020

Meet Ryan Vizzions, a photographer who started making pictures at the most difficult time of his life after losing his father to suicide. He quit his job at a Fortune 500 company, travelled half way across the world to Bangkok, a place chosen randomly from the spin of a world globe, to find himself alone in the midst of civil unrest in Thailand during the 'Red shirt protests' of 2010. It was to be a trip that shaped his photographic future covering stories of injustice and protest.

Ryan has since photographed protest and the plight of protestors whilst building what you could describe as a more ‘regular’ successful commercial photography business, but it’s clear where his passion lies, in making photo documentaries about social injustice. It’s a journey as you’ll hear in the continuation (part 2) of this story that has landed him with a government agency file. Today he is one of the growing voices in the photography community that believe it has become harder to tell photo stories with the freedoms once enjoyed.

Ryan Vizzions: "Defend The Sacred", Standing Rock, Cannon Ball, 

North Dakota, 2016

Photographs copyright Ryan Vizzions. Not to be reproduced or used without express permission of the photographer. 

Today's show is kindly supported by www.imagesalon.com - outsource your post production and spend more time shooting and working on your business with 25% off your first order in 2020.

Comment on the show: studio@photographydaily.show




Photographs copyright Ryan Vizzions. Not to be reproduced or used without express permission of the photographer.

FURTHER REFERENCE:

Thailands reds and yellows, a story published on the BBC website and a further article on the protests of 2010

NPR’s report on COINTELPRO

Gallery Photographer Ryan Vizzions Work Included in Magnetic West: The Enduring Allure of the American West at Figge Museum

Via The Figge Museum

Organized by the Figge Art Museum, Magnetic West features over 150 photographs by some of the most renowned photographers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Picturing the west as a metaphor for promise and peril, the exhibition explores issues of identity, implications of living in a changing landscape, and the centrality of Native and immigrant communities to the essential dynamism of the region. Including images made by artists from the U.S. and abroad, the exhibition expands the dialogue of how our view of the west has evolved from the 19th century to today.

Assembled from many public and private collections, the exhibition includes important works by Robert Adams, Edward Burtynsky, Laura Gilpin, Zig Jackson, Elaine Mayes, Chandra McCormick, Cara Romero, Wendy Red Star, Victoria Sambunaris, Ryan Vizzions, Carleton Watkins, Wim Wenders and many others.  The exhibition will also appear at the Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Iowa October 24, 2020 to January 17, 2021.  A catalogue will be published in conjunction with the exhibition.

The exhibition features two of Ryan Vizzions iconic images from the NODAPL protest at Standing Rock. Please contact Monroe Gallery for print information.

“Defend The Sacred”: Standing Rock, Cannon Ball, North Dakota, 2016

Last Child Camp: Protesters face off with police and the National Guard on February 1, 2017,

 near Cannon Ball, North Dakota.

Monroe Gallery of Photography presents two exhibitions in the gallery concurrent with on-line viewing

Monroe Gallery of Photography presents two exhibitions in the gallery concurrent with on-line viewing at www.monroegallery.com. The exhibits are on view July 3 through September 13, 2020; the Gallery is open to the public with Covid-19 safe operating procedures. Private viewing appointments are available by reservation. 

Ryan Vizzions: : A church flooded by Hurricane Florence stands silently in its reflection

 in Burgaw, North Carolina, 2018

LIFE ON EARTH

“Life on Earth” is a survey of 20th and 21st Century environmental and climate issues documented by photojournalists. Our world is changing faster – and in more ways – than we could have ever imagined. With social and economic disruption on a scale rarely seen since the end of World War II 75 years ago, the Covid-19 pandemic is also forcing us to completely rethink the notion of ‘business as usual’

The Earth’s climate is changing faster-and in more ways-than we previously imagined. This exhibit of climate related images hopes to promote awareness and motivate advocacy for the health of our planet. A narrated tour is available on our YouTube channel.

Tony Vaccaro: GThe Pink  Balcony, Puerto Rico, 1951

TONY VACCAO

GRIT AND RED WINE

“Grit and Red Wine” is special exhibition of photographs by Tony Vaccaro which includes several new discoveries from his archive being exhibited for the very first time. Tony Vaccaro, now 97, is one of the few people alive who can claim to have survived the Battle of Normandy and COVID-19.  Tony was drafted into WWII, in June of 1944 he was on a boat heading toward Omaha Beach, fighting the enemy while also photographing his experience at great risk. After the war, Tony remained in Germany to photograph the rebuilding of the country for Stars And Stripes magazine. Returning to the US in 1950, Tony started his career as a commercial photographer, eventually working for virtually every major publication: Look, Life, Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, Newsweek, and many more. Tony went on to become one the most sought after photographers of his day. Tony attributes his longevity to “blind luck, red wine” and determination.

“To me, the greatest thing that you can do is challenge the world. And most of these challenges I win. That’s what keeps me going.” –Tony Vaccaro, May, 2020