The Monuments: Who Should Shape Public Space New exhibit features photographs by Sanjay Suchak

 

Now open on the third floor of Shannon Library at The University of Virginia:

Who decides what belongs in public space, and what do those choices say about our democracy?

"The Monuments: Who Should Shape Public Space?," a new exhibit from the Karsh Institute of Democracy and the University of Virginia Library, explores these questions through photographer and former Karsh Institute Practitioner Fellow Sanjay Suchak's images documenting the removal and current status of Confederate monuments across Virginia.

UVA Shannon Library

University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA

 

Robert E. Lee Monument Overhead, Richmond, Virginia, July 2, 2020

Foundry workers prepare to melt down the face of the Robert E. Lee statue for repurporsing, October, 2023

9/11 In remembrance

 Via Pasatiempo

The Santa Fe New Mexican

September 11, 2026

 Tony Vaccaro, Minoru Yamasaki, World Trade Center Architect, 1969

Friday, September 11, marks the 25th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, changing the United States forever and shuffling the world’s geopolitical makeup.

Before you get into the political fallout of the attack, I suggest you sit for a moment with the people who were in Lower Manhattan that morning and during the days that followed. They are people who lost their lives, witnessed the horror and survived, documented the tragedy, saved lives, attempted to save lives, and, years later, suffered from illnesses caused by hazardous dust.

One way to sit with these humans is to visit a virtual project on the Monroe Gallery of Photography website titled “9/11 In Remembrance.”

Gallery co-owners Sid and Michelle Monroe curated a Pop Up and online exhibition for the 20th anniversary of 9/11 in 2021, near the end of the height of the pandemic, by choosing 25 photographs that speak to the history of the World Trade Center: the before, the pride of the Twin Towers, the day of the attack, and the days that followed.

The photographers whose work is featured in “9/11 in Remembrance” are Tony Vaccaro, Eddie Adams, Carolyn Schaefer, Neil Leifer, Eric Draper, Eric O’Connell, Stephen Wilkes, Shepard Sherbell, Joe Blake, Joe McNally, Thomas E. Franklin, Nina Berman, and David Butow. — Ania Hull


See It: “9/11 In Remembrance,” Virtual Project, 2021, at monroegallery.com/gallery/virtual-projects.

9/11 25 Years Later: Photojournalist Eric O’Connell recalls being thrust into horror and history after living just a week in NYC

 Via AM New York

September 10, 2026

Eric O’Connell had been living in his apartment on Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan, next to historic Fraunces Tavern, for less than a week when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks struck the city. 

As a 33-year-old photojournalist and commercial photographer at that time, he had been working in various parts of the country, teaching and photographing for magazines and advertising stock. Because New York City is the American center of photojournalism, it was only natural for O’Connell to make a new home here. 

Like many others, O’Connell recalls hearing about the first attack on the World Trade Center that day while watching television.

“When the first plane hit the World Trade Center, I saw it on the news – Matt Lauer and Katic Couric were preempted and they showed a picture of the building on fire (the north tower) – may be a Cessna hit it and I said, ‘ok, this is not an accident and my training kicked in,’” O’Connell said from his current home in San Antonio in an interview with this reporter, who had spoken to him for the first time in 25 years. “I grabbed my cameras and ran out the door.”

That’s when he said the metal doors on the building shook; he didn’t realize it at that moment, but that was when the second plane had hit the south tower. “It felt like an earthquake,” he recalled.

Despite having moved to NYC in July, O’Connell was not too familiar with the city. He had just spent July teaching in Italy and all of August in New Mexico teaching art. Nevertheless, he made his way to the World Trade Center, running down Broadway to Liberty Street, passing the black tombstone-like Deutsche Bank building.

Then O’Connell came upon the grotesque scene of horror: A piece of plane fuselage on a parking lot across from the south tower. A chunk of steel from the plane pierced the hood of a car. Gruesome body parts were scattered.

Then came the unthinkable: Jumpers.

“They (firefighters) were coming across the parking lot, and then I heard it. I saw something out of corner of eye; it finally registered that a body was falling,” O’Connell recalled. “Then I saw these guys running. Firefighters were dragging him, a firefighter hit by debris. I didn’t know at the time that a body had hit him.”

O’Connell had witnessed what this reporter had seen while covering that fateful morning: Firefighter Danny Suhr struck by a jumper. He ran around the corner and snapped a picture of him being removed in front of 90 West St. He then shot a few frames of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.

“I was standing on the corner (of Liberty Street) where there was scaffolding and I thought, ‘Okay, this is barely safe – things were falling out of the sky,’” he recalled. “I took a picture of the church from the corner, and my instinct was that there was extreme danger. There were two cops there, one a female, and we didn’t know where to go.”

O’Connell had witnessed what this reporter had seen while covering that fateful morning: Firefighter Danny Suhr struck by a jumper. He ran around the corner and snapped a picture of him being removed in front of 90 West St. He then shot a few frames of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.

“I was standing on the corner (of Liberty Street) where there was scaffolding and I thought, ‘Okay, this is barely safe – things were falling out of the sky,’” he recalled. “I took a picture of the church from the corner, and my instinct was that there was extreme danger. There were two cops there, one a female, and we didn’t know where to go.”

Eric O'Connell: Greek Orthodox Church and Towers, September 11, 2001

“Then we heard the rumble; we knew the building was falling and someone yelled, ‘Run!’” O’Connell recalled. “The female cop screamed, ‘In here!’ I chose to dive in, turned left and curled up in a ball.”

O’Connell had grown up in the southwest U.S., where his community sometimes suffered tornadoes. As the south tower fell, he remembered the advice his mother gave him when a twister approached: Get into the corner. 

“I headed to the wall, and the impact threw me in the air,” he recalled. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Please let it be quick.'”

As soon as the rumble of the collapse stopped, “only 10 seconds, I was sitting on my ankles with knees bent thinking maybe the building is on fire and I might die from the smoke,” he said. “I felt like I had three inches of talcum powder on my face. Then I heard a woman’s voice say, “We can get out here.’ I also heard another voice say, ‘Over here.’”

He could not tell where the doorway was at first, the entrance to Liberty Street completely blocked by debris. Instinctively, he unscrewed the dust-filled filter from his camera and took a few photos, capturing a female police officer and in the background with this reporter.”

Eric O'Connell: The crowd, September 11, 2001

Once outside of the building, the street was dark and filled with dust. He made an important life choice.

“My early influences were all those journalism guys, like James Nachway and Anthony Suau (both famed war photographers), and I thought, ‘I’m not a Nachway or a Suau – I’m not a war photog,’” he said. “So I had a choice to turn right or left, and I turned left. I didn’t want to be one of those people.”

O’Connell then photographed a man in a dust-coated business suit. He took a picture of O’Connell with an instant camera next to an MTA bus. Then he made a joke that “disgusted” O’Connell. “Who do we sue?” the man had quipped.

O’Connell kept walking south and ran into an abandoned hot dog cart.

“I grabbed a water and as soon as I did, a different female cop put her hand on my shoulder, pulled me towards her and said, ‘you need to wash your face,’ so she dragged me to a water fountain, and she pressed the button for me. She then disappeared and I kept walking.”

He said a few guys had a transistor radio on top of car, listening to the news. He said he thought about the movie “Red Dawn,” and thought about the country being under attack as happened in the film.

By the time he made it to Battery Park, he turned back when he heard another rumble, and “I saw an enormous cloud of dust and smoke,” the collapse of the north tower.

“I started to understand what may have happened, but I just didn’t know what to do so I went home, (to his apartment on Pearl Street) and I saw the pictures on television. I took my clothes off. I knew my life had changed forever,” he said.

After cleaning up, he went back out and walked a woman across the Brooklyn Bridge; “she was terrified to walk across,” O’Connell recalled. He went to a friend’s house in Brooklyn to get food and some sleep.

“I tried to sleep but I kept waking up because I was having a nightmare of falling – I’d He brought his processed film to Time Magazine the next day, but because he had shot it on black-and-white film, they weren’t interested. He later sold the images to CNN and “60 Minutes” and gave and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church — which had been destroyed in the Twin Towers’ collapse — a photo to help them raise money to rebuild.

Eric O’Connell showing photos in an exhibit in 2021 at Monroe Gallery of Photography for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Photo shows last picture of the Greek Orthodox Church crushed in the collapse.

(Photo Courtesy of Eric O’Connell)

O’Connell said he sometimes regrets not having done more on that “historic moment.” But he was also suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder that so many also experienced. He never returned to the site: “I couldn’t even go down there.” He said he didn’t leave Manhattan for a year.

“I was scared to leave – didn’t think I could come back – I was in a red zone, and so when I finally did leave, I’d make sure to take my insurance card, or utility bill, to show where I lived. I was just angry about stuff – I had just moved to New York City,” he said. “I chose to turn my back on it; I didn’t have that connection to all those people – I only had a few friends.” 

Now living in San Antonio, he continues to work as a photographer, but also works part-time for Parks and Recreation and rides his bike on the greenways, “like the West Side Highway along the river.”

One of the guys he rides with is a retired NYPD officer, “the only person he knows who speaks about 9/11.”

Exhibit: 9/11 In Remembrance

When The Faces of Ground Zero Giant Polaroids Came To Santa Fe

 

Photograph by David E. Starke/9/11 Museum

As the 25th anniversary of 9/11 nears, Joe McNally will be sharing the story behind his powerful portraits of 272 lives changed by 9/11. The Faces of Ground Zero, which are life-sized, giant Polaroids, was created by photographer Joe McNally in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. Working out of a special studio housing the camera, a highly specialized instrument, he photographed 272 people whose lives intersected in profound fashion with 9/11.

Firefighters, police officers, medical personnel, iron workers, volunteers, families—all came to the camera to have their story told in pictures and their own words. The Giant Polaroids, framed, stand roughly 9 feet tall and 4 feet wide. They toured the US and internationally, became a book, and assisted in raising approximately $2 million for the 9/11 relief efforts.

The project is now on view, installed permanently in the 9/11 Memorial Museum

On September 10 at 5pm EDT Joe McNally will be at Adorama in a special appearance to discuss the creation of this project, and the emotional story of how these pictures were made. Reserve a spot here, watch on YouTube here.

In 2014, Monroe Gallery was honored to present a selection of The Faces of Ground Zero Giant Polaroids in a retrospective exhibition of Joe McNally's career.

Pop Up exhibition: 9/11 In Remembrance

9/11 In Remembrance 25 Years Later

 

Tony Vaccaro: Twin Towers in sunset, New York,1979

Monroe Gallery of Photography announces a special Pop Up exhibition of photographs commemorating the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center that became known as 9/11. The Pop Up is at Monroe Gallery, 112 Don Gaspar Avenue September 9-13, 2026.

Every year since 2001 solemn ceremonies are held to remember the many that lost their lives, the families whose lives were changed forever, and the selfless first responders who performed heroically on that day, and for days after, in the search for survivors.

Shepard Sherbell: Firemen on scene of the terrorist attack on World Trade Center, September 11, 2001

The twin towers design process started in 1965 and construction began in 1972. The twin towers were the tallest buildings in the world for a very short time. Photographs in the exhibit document the construction of the World Trade Center, its prominence in the skyline of Manhattan, and the devastation of September 11, 2001

Sidney and Michelle Monroe relocated their family and Gallery from New York City to Santa Fe shortly after 9/11. This exhibit is a remembrance of the World Trade Center, fellow New Yorkers, and the countless lives affected on that day.

Joe McNally - Faces of Ground Zero: 25 Years Later

 

Via Adorama

Joe McNally shares the story behind his powerful portraits of 272 lives changed by 9/11

Adorama, New York, NY

Thursday, September 10  •  5 PM - 6 PM

Reserve a spot

Please join us for a very special night in honor of the 25th Anniversary of 9/11.

The Faces of Ground Zero, which are life-sized, giant Polaroids, was created by photographer Joe McNally in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. Working out of a special studio housing the camera, a highly specialized instrument, he photographed 272 people whose lives intersected in profound fashion with 9/11.

Firefighters, police officers, medical personnel, iron workers, volunteers, families—all came to the camera to have their story told in pictures and their own words. The Giant Polaroids, framed, stand roughly 9 feet tall and 4 feet wide. They toured the US and internationally, became a book, and assisted in raising approximately $2 million for the 9/11 relief efforts.

The project is now on view, installed permanently in the 9/11 Memorial Museum, but for one night only, join us in-store to see a limited amount of the giant Polaroids up close!

On the 25th Anniversay Joe McNally will be at Adorama in a special appearance to discuss the creation of this project, and the emotional story of how these pictures were made.

Related exhibition: 9/11 - In Remembrance

Joe McNally is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning photographer whose prolific career includes assignments in nearly 70 countries. McNally is often described as: Authentic, articulate, an exceptional technical photographer whose varied skill set means he is called upon often for the “unusual” or “challenging” job. But no job is too big or too small for McNally because he loves photographing anything or anyone interesting in front of his lens.

He is also known world-wide for his unmatched visual creativeness and extraordinary imagination. He is calm under pressure and excels in the field whether it is a portrait of a celebrity or corporate CEO to an unwieldy fashion shoot with a crew of 60.

Joe McNally’s credit list includes 5 covers of the National Geographic, (amongst an overall 15 coverages for the magazine), 7 Covers of Life Magazine and 4 successful Olympic coverages as he looks ahead to number 5 with Paris 2024 approaching. McNally has also climbed the Empire State Building 4x and the Burj Khalifa tower 2x. A proud Nikon Ambassador, he is the rare photographer to make the bridge between photojournalism and commercial photography and has the distinct ability to come away with a photograph no matter the twist or turns he might encounter on assignment.

Ron Haviv Covers The Viral Confrontation of Jake Lang and "Spiderman"

 

Ron Haviv

J6 activist Jake Lang at a “rally” where he was met by opposing protesters, Minneapolis City Hall, August, 2026

On August 22, 2026, Jake Lang hosted a "rally" outside Minneapolis City Hall to support a woman convicted of using racial slurs against a child. He was met by opposing protesters. Lang was later arrested for causing a riot as was Spider-Man. 

The Woman Guiding Tourists Through New York City’s Worst Day

 Via the New York Times

August 24, 2026

"The tour begins outside a Burger King on Liberty Street in Lower Manhattan, and the guide explains why. People forget that this was commandeered by the police on Sept. 11, 2001, as a staging area amid the chaos, “NYPD Temp HQ” spray-painted over the front door.

What follows is a very specific narrative of the events of that day as told by a very specific guide, Christina Stanton, who lived it firsthand. She continues to watch it unfold, 25 years on.....

Why keep reliving that?

Because.

Because the boat rescue is praised as the largest maritime evacuation in the country’s history — it has been called the “American Dunkirk” — and there is a documentary about it narrated by Tom Hanks, and yet few on her tours seem to have heard of it.

Because not everyone realizes that the number of illnesses and deaths linked to the attacks continues to grow, far surpassing the number of people who died that day.

Because, surrounded by plaques and statues and the reflecting pools and the broken hull of that huge metal Sphere, she, too, is a memorial."

Click to read full article.

Related exhibition: 9/11 - In Remembrance

Stanley Forman and his Pulitzer Winning Photographs

 1976, Part 14: Stanley Forman … - The Georgia Politics Podcast - Apple Podcasts

Via Georgia Politics Podcast

August 14, 2026

Welcome to The Georgia Politics Podcast! In this episode, we take a fascinating detour into the world of photojournalism with legendary photographer Stanley Forman.

Forman sits down to discuss his remarkable career, the photographs that shaped his legacy and the stories behind some of his most iconic images. From his early days as a young photographer to the moments that earned him national recognition and Pulitzer Prizes, Forman offers a firsthand look at the people, places and events he captured through his lens.

It's a conversation about photography, journalism and history — and a reminder of how a single photograph can capture a moment and define an era.

An extraordinary picture collection spanning 100 works will be on view at museums across the United States.

Via PetaPixel

August 8, 2026

An extraordinary picture collection spanning 100 works by photographers including Diane Arbus, Dorothea Lange, Richard Avedon, Nan Goldin, and Edward Steichen will be on view at museums across the United States.

The American Federation of Arts (AFA) announces the launch of the new traveling exhibition Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder, featuring photographs by more than 50 photographers and artists.

Monroe Gallery of Photograph contributed photographs to the collection, including the featured image of Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama, 1965 by Steve Schapiro

Steve Schapiro (American, 1934– 2022) Martin Luther King Jr., Selma, Alabama, 1965 Gelatin silver print, 18 7/8 x 12 3/4 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 10.2010.8 © Steve Schapiro. Courtesy Monroe Gallery, Sante Fe, NM

“Photography connects us to history while reminding us that we are a part of its ongoing story. It has the power to tell authentic, compassionate stories about what it means to be human." --Judy  Glickman Lauder.

Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder will travel to the Southampton Arts Center (July 25–September 27), Sarasota Art Museum (October 18, 2026–April 4, 2027), the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston (May 28–August 29, 2027), and the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami (September 30, 2027–February 26, 2028).

Full article here.

Not that long ago, the press could root out corruption, topple presidents, and end wars. Now, even the biggest scoops have little impact.

 Via Craig Unger

Not that long ago, the press could root out corruption, topple presidents, and end wars. Now, even the biggest scoops have little impact. Here's how and why the media lost its mojo.

Our so-called free press can no longer do what it used to do. That’s because it presumes an audience that shares the same factual reality most of us see. And that audience, a national citizenry that shares the same set of facts, no longer exists.

Full article here

America The Beautiful Review in Musée Magazine: "the exhibition examines representations of the country while complicating what it means to be American"

 Via Musée Magazine

Written by Georgina Laube

August 6, 2026

The United States is one of the most visually and culturally represented countries in the world, yet despite its constant representation, a lingering question remains: is the image of the country shaped more by what it is or by what it is imagined to be?

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, which opened over Memorial Day weekend at Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and runs through August 9, directly engages with this question. The timing of the exhibition is particularly significant. Memorial Day is both the unofficial beginning of summer and a national holiday dedicated to commemorating those who died in service to the United States. Against this backdrop, the exhibition examines representations of the country while complicating what it means to be American.

Ryan Vizzions: Protesters face off with police and the National Guard on February 1, 2017, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota. | Courtesy of artist and gallery ©.

Bringing together more than 45 photographs, the group exhibition explores the complexity of the United States, its identity, its shared culture, and what it means to be an American on an individual and collective scale as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary during one of the most politically and socially divisive periods in its history.

Ryan Vizzions: January 7th, 2026 - After the murder of Renee Good by a masked federal agent, a vigil was held in her honor. Upward of 10,000 Minnesotans showed up to pay their respects at the location she was killed | Courtesy of artist and gallery ©.

The works on view range from photographs of the Statue of Liberty and the vast American plains to images of protestors exercising their First Amendment rights, moments of conflict born from struggles for freedom and equality, and scenes of everyday life in both rural and urban communities throughout the years. Together, these photographs create an honest portrait of America, capturing both its beauty and its complexities while highlighting its constant evolution.

Margaret Bourke-White/ ©Life Picture Collection

Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor, 1952 | Courtesy of artist and gallery 

Among the exhibition's recurring symbols is the American flag. Historically, the flag has functioned as a symbol of the nation and its people, but its meanings have never been singular. For some, it represents hope, opportunity, and the promise of a better life. For others, it can signify dominance or fear. It has also long served as a symbol of collective unity, communicating the belief that the nation is stronger together than divided.

David Butow: A protester at Ferguson police headquarters two nights after the Grand Jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, November 24, 2014 | Courtesy of artist and gallery ©.

From photographs of the flag being raised at Ground Zero following September 11 to images in which it appears during memorial services for fallen service members, the exhibition presents the flag across a variety of contexts. In doing so, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL encourages viewers to critically examine what the symbol communicates today and how its meaning continues to shift. The exhibition makes clear that the flag can simultaneously function as a symbol of freedom and a symbol of oppression, prompting viewers to consider what happens when a national symbol becomes contested and no longer universally embraced.

Nina Berman F**k the KKK, New Jersey, 1990 | Courtesy of the artist and gallery ©.

Musée Magazine is a dynamic, print and digital biennial, and interactive website dedicated to featuring works by emerging and established artists. Sometimes quirky, sometimes sensual, always unpredictable, Musée moves on the cutting edge as an unparalleled photo-based platform. Today, Musée finds itself at the vanguard of photography and film culture. We strive to empower promising artists as they navigate and launch future careers throughout the global photographic community, while commingling with industry influencers to provide relevant content for academics, students, and photography aficionados alike. Like a photographic library, Musée has a broad appeal, encompassing all genres from the photo-world’s beloved masters to the new, exciting, and unexpected. 

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

National park ranger quits, tours visitor centers to fight censorship

 Via SFGATE

July 31, 2026

Earlier this month, Melissa Dalley began striking up conversations with strangers about history. At the  Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center in Grand Teton National Park, she called their attention to where a sign detailing a massacre of Native Americans once stood, and told them it was quietly removed this winter. Then she passed out flyers containing the missing information.

If Dalley seemed like a park ranger, it's because she used to be. But these days, she instead travels around to parks like Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Glacier as a visitor on a mission: She's committed to fighting censorship across the National Park Service by talking about what the Donald Trump administration has omitted.  -full article here

Preserving National Park stories before they’re lost

Our 433+ national parks are public land for all people and should reflect the fullness and complexity of the American experience – not a narrowed, partisan, or distorted version of it.

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

David Butow: 250 Years USA. A Country in Contradiction

 Via laif

David Butow

January 6, 2021, Washington, DC. Supporters of President Trump battle law enforcement on the West steps of The Capitol during the attack on the day of Joe Biden’s election certification by Congress.

2026 brings two dates that are hard to ignore: 250 years USA. And Donald Trump turns 80 – in the middle of his second term.

What do these anniversaries mean? What do they say about the state of this country? We asked selected photographers from our partner agency Redux.

In the second part of our series, photojournalist David Butow talks about his work and his perspective on the USA.

David, is there a photo you have taken that you feel best represents the United States — either at this moment or at another point in time?

You can’t sum up a country of 350 million people in one photograph, but I’ll choose one that speaks to our politics right now. On January 6, 2021, I was at the U.S. Capitol when a mob of thousands of Trump supporters broke through police lines and into the Capitol to try to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden as the next president. It was Americans fighting against each other over one of the most important things the government does.

And this fight was set up by the sitting president who had engaged in lies to rile up his supporters and help him stay in power. That was the first time that had happened in 250 years. I think, and hope, it will be most significant event in U.S. history that I’ll ever see. Trump left the White House couple of weeks later with his tail behind his legs but of course now he’s president again. This dynamic speaks to widespread distrust in our government and other institutions.

Given the flood of synthetic images, disinformation, and fake news across the internet, how do you view the role and importance of photojournalism and the media?

"The media" is now such a broad term. It can mean big organizations like the New York Times and CNN, or it can be one person with a YouTube channel and millions of followers. I heard a commentator say recently that when it comes to information, much of the public is both cynical and gullible at the same time. That’s a bad combination!

People not only believe stuff that’s fake, they will not believe things that are real. The hope I have is that there will always be some news organizations that will have high standards for truth, for rooting out fakery in images and information and that those standards will be known to their audience who will subscribe and support them.

In other words, that there will always be a place to turn when you need some reality. I fear that traditional, solid media outlets will continue to be a smaller and smaller portion of how people get their information. That’s already happening. However, I am buoyed by the fact that thirty years after easy desktop computer Photoshop-style image manipulation, the wire services and most big, good newspapers and magazines have maintained fairly tight ethnical standards when it comes to the making and content of images.

What do you think Americans can be proud of?

Despite all the problems facing the U.S., there are still things about this country that work very well. While there is a lot of tribal and closed-minded thinking, those ideas often get outsized attention in the current media environment. In reality, I think most Americans are quite progressive when it comes to things like gay rights, ethnic diversity, and religious freedoms. We have the Americans with Disabilities Act which helps to make public spaces easier for people in wheelchairs.

I’ll give you couple of other recent examples. There was a small group of Buddhist monks that recently did a "walk for peace" through the deep South, a Trumpy part of the country known as the »Bible Belt.« Thousands of people came out to cheer them on and they had the support of the local governments and police.

Today, I’m seeing news coverage of long lines at airports because of budget disagreements within the Federal Government. Despite our differences and political conflicts, people are calm and not getting into fights. Most Americans are pretty chill and tolerant. Also, when it comes to technological and scientific advancement, obviously, that’s one of our strengths.

What is "typically American" about you?

[…] My mother’s side of the family came to America from England in the 1700’s before there even was a U.S.A. They were Protestant Christians. My father’s parents were immigrants from Russia and Latvia in the early 20th century and they were fleeing persecutions against Jews and were part of the massive wave of immigration at that time as the U.S. was modernizing rapidly and there was economic opportunity and religious freedom. I was born in New York City, grew up in Texas and now live in California. So I feel very lucky to have all this diversity in my background and experience. -full article here

Thank you for your time, David.

David Butow's photographs are featured in the exhibition "America The Beautiful" through August 9, 2026 

Ella Watson, American Gothic, Washington, D.C. by Gordon Parks

Via Bowdoin College Museum of Art

June 26, 2026

In his famous photograph Ella Watson, American Gothic, Washington, D.C. (1942), Gordon Parks (1912 –2006) positioned Ella Watson, who worked as a janitor in government offices, in front of an American flag with a broom and mop in her hands. In her pose and title, she echoes Grant Wood’s 1930 painting American Gothic, an iconic image of rural American resilience, while also providing a critique of the country’s inequities.

Parks created this image while on a year-long fellowship with the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in Washington, D.C, a New Deal program originally designed to help farmers recover from Depression-era agricultural disasters. In the 1930s, the FSA began hiring photographers to record the conditions of those who lived in rural or small-town environments and illustrate the necessity of federal assistance. In addition to Parks, famous photographers like Ben Shahn, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Arthur Rothstein worked for the FSA (and their works can be found in the BCMA’s collection).

Having spent his youth in progressive Northern cities like Minneapolis and Chicago, Parks was unprepared for the challenges he faced upon his arrival in the then-racially segregated city of Washington, D.C. Parks recalled that in a single day he was “refused service at restaurants, barred from a theater, and dismissed by a department store clerk.” He later said, “I had experienced a kind of bigotry and discrimination here that I never expected to experience.”

In response, Parks decided to focus on documenting Black life in the capitol, and turned his attention to Ella Watson, who worked as a charwoman, or cleaning woman, in the FSA building. After learning about her family and her struggles, Parks decided to make Watson the subject of his first extended picture story, and for four months Watson gave the photographer access to her home and community. The resulting photographs—which show Watson not only her work as a custodian, but also at home with her family, and serving as a deaconess at her church—were a breakthrough in Parks’ career. Through Watson, Parks gained an intimate, humanist perspective on Black American life beyond the historical gleam of white Washington, D.C., one that captured both struggles and moments of joy.

Parks saw in Watson a potent critique of the country’s inequalities as well as an illustration of American fortitude. In creating the photograph, the artist said: “I felt that I must photograph this woman in a way that would make me feel or make the public feel about what Washington, D.C., was in 1942. So I put her before the American flag with a broom in one hand and a mop in another. And I said, ‘American Gothic’—that’s how I felt at the moment.” The photograph reveals Parks’ experience of coming to terms with the segregated city he once embraced as “the seat of democracy,” with all its promises and perils.

Notably, When Parks showed American Gothic to Roy Stryker, the head of the Historical Division of the FSA and Parks’ boss, he was warned that its publication could cost them their jobs. As the FSA was a government agency, the provocative image was considered too controversial. Despite being taken in 1942, the photo remained unpublished until 1948, when Parks became the first Black staff photographer at LIFE magazine.

Today, Gordon Parks’ Ella Watson, American Gothic, Washington, D.C. is one of the most iconic photographs in the history of American art and documentary photography writ large. It is currently on view in USA @ 250 at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.

Anne Strachan Cross
Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow

Also on exhibit in America The Beautiful through August 9, 2026

150th Anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn

Ryan Vizzions:  Sitting Bull Healing ride, from Poplar, MT to Fort Buford, ND, 2026

Via Native News Online

On June 25, 26, and 27, 2026, the National Park Service, in partnership with Tribal Nations, descendants, historians, elected officials, authors, military representatives, and cultural organizations, will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The observance will provide opportunities for reflection, education, and cultural exchange.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn, fought on June 25–26, 1876, in what is now southeastern Montana, was a major conflict between the combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes and the 7th U.S. Cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. The battle took place during rising tensions over U.S. efforts to force Native nations onto reservations following the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, a region sacred to the Lakota.

Custer divided his regiment and launched an attack on a large encampment of Native families and warriors along the Little Bighorn River, but his forces were overwhelmed and defeated in what became one of the most well-known Indigenous military victories in North American history. The engagement resulted in the deaths of Custer and many of his men, and it remains a defining and heavily studied moment in U.S. and Native American history, symbolizing both Indigenous resistance and the escalating conflict over land, sovereignty, and U.S. expansion.

Event Details

Ryan Vizzions:  Sitting Bull healing ride, Montana, 2026

Related:

Gallery Photography Ryan Vizzions is covering the over 300 mile Sitting Bull Healing ride, from Poplar, MT to Fort Buford, ND for the 150th anniversary of Little Bighorn. Vizzions will present an Artist talk on Thursday, July 2 "From Standing Rock To Minneapolis" in association with the current exhibition "America The Beautiful". 

RSVP/Register here

Flag Day, June 14, 2026

 June 14, Flag Day, 2026

Flag Day is a holiday celebrated on June 14 in the United States. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress.

"Many prints in America the Beautiful feature various depictions of the American flag, many showing it as a symbol of identity, joy, and hope but also of oppression and violence...the interpretation of the flag depends on who's holding it.”

America The Beautiful is on exhibit through August 9, 2026.

New Exhibit At Griffin Museum Includes Ashley Gilbertson and Mark Peterson

Via The Griffin Museum of Photography

Vision(ary) is the Griffin Museum of Photography’s annual summer public art exhibition dedicated to the art of visual storytelling. This public art installation features individual exhibitions with distinct photographic styles, including banners hung on light standards and art installations around the Griffin Museum.

From the Civil Rights Movement to contemporary struggles for racial equity, gender justice, environmental protection, labor rights, immigration reform, and democratic accountability, protest has shaped the American narrative.

Photography has been central to this history—documenting resistance, amplifying voices, and creating images that define collective memory.

In the light of America’s 250th anniversary, this year’s edition, Raising Our Voices, presents photographic projects that focus on advocacy, social justice, and activism within the United States—past or present.

Vision(ary) is supported by the Winchester Cultural District, Winchester Cultural Council, John & Mary Murphy Foundation, En Ka Society, Winchester Rotary, Winchester Savings Bank, Griffin Museum Directors Circle, and other cultural and private partners. The exhibition concept and Photo Cube structures are designed by our long time producing partner, Photoville.

Ashley Gilbertson

Ashley Gilbertson

An Occupy Wall Street demonstrator is arrested on Broadway and Wall Street on November 17, 2011

On September 14, 2008, financial markets around the world plummeted, heralding the beginning of the current economic crisis, the most severe since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Bear Sterns and Lehmann Bros. went bankrupt overnight, and trillions of dollars were invested by the federal government in bail-outs and loans. The nucleus for the crash was Wall Street, where high risk complex bonds turned into toxic assets and unregulated trading imploded.

Three blocks from the Stock Exchange and almost exactly three years later, the Occupy Wall Street protest movement began.

For two months hundreds of people occupied a small wind swept plaza known as Zuccotti Park, where tents, a kitchen, a library, and a twenty-four hour drum circle were quickly set up. Occupiers represented hundreds of different causes, though their overarching frustrations lay with economic inequality and corporate greed. Their slogan “We are the 99%” referred to the enormous income gap between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population.

These pictures depict Wall Street during the crash in 2008 and the Occupy movement of 2011. --Ashley Gilbertson

Mark Peterson

“The Memory Hole is a look at America from November 5, 2024 when President Trump was elected to a second term, till the present, how it has changed America.  I am photographing this time for others to see knowing that in the future these images will be dismissed as fake news . As in The Memory Hole in George Orwell’s book 1984, the truth will be burned: ‘There was a memory hole in the opposite wall. O’Brien lifted the grating. Unseen, the frail slip of paper was whirling away on the current of warm air; it was vanishing in a flash of flame. O’Brien turned away from the wall. ‘Ashes,’ he said. ‘Not even identifiable ashes. Dust. It does not exist. It never existed.'” --Mark Peterson

Ashley Gilbertson and Mark Peterson have photographs included in the current exhibition "America The Beautiful", on view at Monroe Gallery through August 9, 2026.