Stars and Strife: Monroe Gallery of Photography Exhibition Puts Sharp Focus on Images of Division and Democracy in Peril

 Via Pasatiempo

By Ania Hull

May 22, 2026

David Butow's photograph of "A protester at Ferguson police headquarters two nights after the Grand Jury decision, November 24, 2014" on the cover of Pasatiempo

“I think I was mistaken in thinking that democracy was a birthright,” Michelle Monroe says.

The co-owner of Monroe Gallery of Photography is sitting behind a large desk at the front of the art space, with her husband, Sidney Monroe. The two gallerists and curators are both warm and sharp and have no qualms about speaking their minds on the theme reflected in their latest show: America is in serious trouble.

The walls of the gallery that are visible from the front desk are filled with dozens of prints by photojournalists who’ve witnessed first-hand that "trouble" the Monroes speak of: they illustrate discrimination, racism, social and political violence, erasure of history, poverty, and the crumbling of one of the world’s oldest modern democracies. The prints are all part of America the Beautiful, a new group exhibition that opened earlier this month and runs through August 9.

The Monroes contend that some people refuse to see an unwashed version of their country — and also concede that it is difficult to look at photos that unveil the difficult, distressing, and ugly moments of American history. But the goal of this exhibition, the Monroes say, is to bring the issues to light in the hope that viewers will not turn away.

The exhibition commemorates the 250th anniversary of the birth of the nation and of the American experiment, doing it in a way that shows a beautiful America with gorgeous vistas but also reveals a side that viewers might be less comfortable seeing, the scenes of the United States of America hidden behind Old Glory.

“We were seeing exhibitions and plans being put into place for commemorating the 250th anniversary,” Sydney says, “and we’ve seen a lot of sanitization of our reality.

“One of the great benefits of representing photojournalists is that they document history,” he adds. “Their photographs are evidence.”

The photographs are from a range of eras, beginning in the 1930s up to this year, and reflect varying topics, such as protests, veterans, immigrants' rights, and symbols of poverty and other financial hardships.

And perhaps these images aren't the ones we want to see to inspire us to celebrate this national milestone but rather represent, the Monroes say, an opportunity to face our demons.

It begins with the flag

The Monroes keep a glass container on their front desk filled with individually wrapped whistles of the same kind anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis used to alert their immigrant neighbors of an imminent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid.

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

The Monroes share these whistles with gallery visitors. Last year, they gave out “Good Trouble” pins. This summer, Michelle says, they will distribute pins bearing an upside-down American flag, a symbol of distress.

A photo by independent photojournalist Tracy Barbutes in America the Beautiful shows an upside-down American flag hanging from El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. It was hung in protest of the thousands of federal job cuts that President Trump’s administration imposed early in 2025.

Many other 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.

“I suppose the American flag is like the crown,” Michelle says. “We formed against a monarchy, but we still needed a universal symbol, and the interpretation of the flag depends on who's holding it.”

Sanjay Suchak:  Scene from a birthday party…Washington, Dc, June 14, 2025

In another print in the exhibition — the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Soiling of Old Glory” that Boston Herald American photographer Stanley J. Forman took in 1976 during an anti-bussing protest in Boston — the American flag is used as weapon: A white teenager, Joseph Rakes, holds it by its pole and thrusts it finial toward Black activist and lawyer Ted Landsmark, who’s being helped to his feet by another person.

In the 2006 photograph “Ty with Flags” by documentary photographer and filmmaker Nina Berman, young Marine Sgt. Tyler Ziegel stands on the porch of his house in the shadow of a large American flag. Ziegel was seriously wounded during his second tour in Iraq by a suicide car bomber. He died in 2012 of heroin and alcohol poisoning. This photo was taken the morning of his wedding, which ended in divorce that same year.

Berman says the photo of Ziegel and others in her series of veteran photos show the realities of war and the toll of the American flag on the bodies of soldiers who’d been sent to fight for it, often not even understanding what the conflict was about.

Ron Haviv: Anti ICE protestors clash with ICE agents outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building during a protest January 17, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota

The atrocities continue through current events. Noted human rights photojournalist Ron Haviv's image in the show depicts a scene in Minneapolis on January 17 as anti-ICE protestors clash with ICE agents outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building. The American flag in Haviv’s photo obscures more than half of the scene but gives prominent focus to an ICE agent in full police-like uniform, with a bullet-proof vest and a mask reminiscent of gas masks from WWII. Behind him are other ICE agents in helmets and one in a makeshift mask made from a neck warmer.

Flags appear throughout America the Beautiful, often as a reminder that the American dream of freedom, equality, justice, opportunity is not a given.

“There’s a constant tension,” Sidney says, “between those who want to expand freedom and people’s opportunities, and people who want to restrict and determine who can be given an opportunity and who cannot.”

“You are not entitled to democracy,” Michelle adds, returning to her earlier remark that democracy is not a birthright. “It’s a responsibility. In the preamble of the Constitution, it says we must form a more perfect union. Well, now I understand that this is the responsibility of every single day. Just as a parent loves and nurtures a child, we must do the same with democracy.”

Photojournalist Ryan Vizzions’ photograph of a man standing atop a sign at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta during the May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in response to the police killing of George Floyd symbolizes those who stand up against injustice and refuse to remain silent.

In the photo, the young man's sign reads “Black Lives Matter” in large letters. As he wields the flag, he tilts his face toward the sky, his mouth open, and he screams.

source article here

details

America the Beautiful

Opening reception is 4-6 p.m. Saturday, May 23; exhibition runs through August 9

Monroe Gallery of Photography

112 Don Gaspar

505-992-0800; monroegallery.com

America The Beautiful - Reception Saturday, May 23 4-6 PM

 Exhibition of compelling and provocative photographs illustrating America, American life, and the American people as the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday amid the erosion of civil rights, human rights, and democratic norms.

On July 4, 2026, our nation will commemorate and celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. “America The Beautiful” confronts the idea that “American” is a uniform, monolithic identity at a critical time when our Democracy is under attack. Threats to free expression are rising, federal civil rights laws have been weakened and the foundations of the country’s racially inclusive democracy are being challenged

Through more than 40 enthralling images, “America The Beautiful” explores the rituals, celebrations, social change, history, and memories of the American nation. Photographs in the exhibit depict major events and everyday life; themes of patriotism, memory, conflict, and identity; and documents Americans struggling for their freedom; their right to live without fear, their right to speak and the right to protest inequities.

View the exhibition here.

‘You look at it and you just feel better’: this year’s Photoville festival highlights

 Via The Guardian

May 15, 2026

Ashley Gilbertson and Ava Pellor - Puppies Behind Bars. Photograph: Ashley Gilbertson and Ava Pellor

"The extremely moving collection Puppies Behind Bars is the fruit of the nearly two years that photographers Ashley Gilbertson and Ava Pellor spent in the men’s maximum security Green Haven, documenting the titular program wherein those incarcerated raise puppies to become service dogs. Organization founder Gloria Gilbert Stoga shared that she instinctively knew that she wanted a war photographer to document what happened behind bars, because of the extreme nature of prisons.

“I wanted a war photographer, because going into prison isn’t something you can articulate to people who aren’t in prison,” Stoga said. “My assumption is that you also can’t articulate war. I needed people who could stay emotionally removed from the subject.”

Gilbertson, who is renowned for his photos of the Iraq war, fit that description, and was joined by Pellor, who has captured extreme experiences such as wildfires and illegal border crossings in the Balkans. Their photos take viewers into terrain that is both brutal and hidden, revealing how the act of raising a dog can transform this horrifying reality.

The dogs humanize an environment that’s devoid of all humanity,” said Gilbertson. “It gives men who have committed grave crimes against society a chance to do something, it gives men a chance to show weakness and vulnerability to be emotionally open and playful, it gives them a sense of responsibility. For the first time in their lives these men are sticking with something when it becomes tough.”

Pellor recalled in particular a photo she made of one of the men in the program when he received his puppy to raise, the act of receiving the dog bringing tears. “I think it was their first time taking them out for a walk in the yard, and he just put his head up to the puppy’s head and started crying,” said Pellor. “After that, he wouldn’t let him go that entire day.” ---full article

Photographer Gabriela Campos is having quite the year

 Via The Santa Fe New Mexican

By Bill Church

May 10, 2026

Gabriela Campos is proof that curiosity can turn into a career. A shy kid into a visual star. No doubt.

The Santa Fe New Mexican photographer’s career has gained a national following, yet no one who knows her is surprised.

Gabriela recently was named the inaugural recipient of the national Nick Oza Visual Fellowship as selected by Altavoz Lab, founded by award-winning journalist Valeria Fernández on the belief that “strong local journalism strengthens democracy.” The fellowship is named after Oza, the Pulitzer-winning photojournalist known for mentoring others and forging important connections in Arizona’s immigrant communities before his death in 2021.

Gabriela will continue to work for The New Mexican during her fellowship while also tackling a 12-month project of documenting the “unsung women of New Mexico’s lowrider culture.”

Gabriela’s project work landed her on the May 2025 cover of High Country News magazine. And National Geographic recently selected her work for inclusion.

For those traveling to Washington, D.C., this summer, spend time at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History along the National Mall. You’ll find Gabriela’s images prominently displayed in the Marcia and Frank Carlucci Hall of Culture and the Arts located on 3 West.

If you go online to the Corazón y vida: Lowriding Culture site, you’ll immediately find one of Gabriela’s photos. The exhibit describes lowriding culture as “artistic expression, technological innovations, and storytelling that reflects Mexican American and Chicano culture and identity.” (Educators and anyone curious will find plenty of media-rich resources in the Smithsonian’s Learning Lab tied to the exhibit.)

I recently took a trip to Washington, D.C., where seeing Gabriela’s art was a must-see, must-smile moment. I also sent Gabriela a short list of questions, which she responded to between assignments and everything else going on in her life.

Her answers were so illuminating that I shifted from a typical column about Gabriela and the exhibit to this Q&A format (with some light editing).

Not surprising, Gabriela’s story is best told by Gabriela:

How did you learn your work had been accepted by the Smithsonian?

The process started years ago. I had just gotten home from a shift at the newspaper when my phone buzzed — it was an email from Steve Velasquez, a curator at the Smithsonian. He was interested in talking about my lowrider work in New Mexico. That was June 2021. After a few emails and calls, I submitted a portfolio. From there, everything fell into place.

Why has lowrider culture interested you? Has it influenced how you tell stories through your images?

Growing up in New Mexico, lowrider culture is always there, just at the edges of everyday life. You see cars cruising the Plaza, and it becomes part of your visual memory. I remember in kindergarten, my friend Domino brought in the song “Low Rider” by War for show and tell — that moment stuck with me.

As I got older, especially in high school, I became more drawn to cruise culture. Growing up in Santa Fe, you have to be creative to entertain yourself as a teenager. My friends and I would spend hours driving around town and hanging out in parking lots — not in particularly cool cars, but there was something freeing about it. That sense of movement, community and expression continues to shape how I tell stories through my images.

What was it like for you to see the exhibit in Washington, D.C.?

The exhibit was postponed for a couple of years due to COVID and the complexity of putting a show like that together. For a while, I wasn’t sure it would happen at all. So when the date was finally set, it felt unreal — and being there in person was even more surreal.

Seeing my photos on the wall brought me back to the exact moments they were taken: my first hopping competition in Española, Holy Thursday outside the Santuario de Chimayó, chasing a gold Impala down East San Francisco Street to catch it perfectly framed against the cathedral — while my mom followed behind me to make sure I didn’t get hit by a car.

Looking at the images, I saw friends and familiar faces. I didn’t feel far from home.

One of my favorite moments happened during the rollout after the festivities of opening day at the museum came to a close. A car club from Virginia lined up outside the museum. A rollout is when cars leave together — horns blaring, hopping, riding on three wheels — it’s a moment to show off. I was on the sidewalk taking photos, like I do at home, but this felt different. To my left were Estevan Oriol and Lou Dematteis — legends in lowrider photography. To my right was my 7-year-old nephew, Henry, crouched down, filming the cars weaving down the street. My mom, sister, and best friend were nearby, taking it all in.

The car club had blocked off the street, and the cars performed in front of these grand, pillared buildings. It felt like a collision of worlds — New Mexico lowrider culture meeting Washington, D.C. — and it was beautiful.

As the cars disappeared down the road, Oriol and Dematteis turned to me and asked if I’d take a photo with them. I couldn’t believe it — that they would want a picture with me, a newspaper photographer from New Mexico.

How did you become a photographer? What sparked this passion?

Up until about fifth or sixth grade, the world was a blur. Then I got glasses, and suddenly everything changed. Trees that once looked like green smudges had definition — I could see individual leaves, texture, detail. That shift gave me a deep appreciation for the visual world, and I think it’s part of why I became a photographer.

During my senior year of high school, I took my first photography class, and right away I knew it was something I wanted to pursue. It just felt right. Having a camera felt like being handed a key — a way to open doors and connect with people.

As a shy kid, I was just as curious — and my camera became a way to step into conversations, explore the world around me, and tell stories I otherwise wouldn’t have been part of. After that first class, I never stopped taking pictures.

For years after, I tried to convince myself photography wasn’t a practical path. How would I make it? How could I survive as a photographer? But every road kept leading me back to photojournalism. Eventually, I stopped resisting and accepted that this is what I’m meant to do. I’m grateful it worked out and that I kept going when it wasn’t always easy.

In solidarity with Fall Of Freedom, Monroe Gallery is honored to present a preview of the important exhibition "America The Beautiful"

 

In solidarity with Fall Of Freedom, Monroe Gallery is honored to present a preview of the important exhibition "America The Beautiful", May 1 & 2.

On July 4, 2026, our nation will commemorate and celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. “America The Beautiful” confronts the idea that “American” is a uniform, monolithic identity at a critical time when our Democracy is under attack. Threats to free expression are rising, federal civil rights laws have been weakened, and the foundations of the country’s racially inclusive democracy are being challenged.

Opening reception Saturday, May 23, 4-6 pm.

Ryan Vizzions

Faces of Fascism, Minneapolis, January, 2026

Fall Of Freedom is a focused, urgent call to artists and arts institutions across all sectors to make art, music, plays, exhibitions, comedy, and beautiful protests foregrounding artistic labor and aligned with immigrants' rights organizing, to amplify all struggles against repression and state violence.

Due process gutted. Universities threatened and defunded. Students kidnapped. Migrants deported. Troops deployed. Racism rampant. Cruelty celebrated. Political leaders arrested. Citizenship stripped. Health care shredded. Women's rights rescinded. Wealth concentrated. Free speech eliminated. Genocide normalized. Science undermined. Arts assaulted. Journalism targeted. Departments shuttered. Grants rescinded. Trans banned. Lawyers capitulating. Coup makers pardoned. Budgets slashed. Abortion outlawed. Courts stacked. Boards replaced. Police unleashed. Nazis emboldened. Bombs dropped.

This is why we must resist. More here.

Behind the Lens With Ron Haviv

 Via Human Rights Educators USA

Behind the Lens


Go beyond the headlines with our speakers as they share the challenges, risks, and defining moments of documenting ICE and pivotal current events shaping our world today.

Stephanie Heimann – Photo Director at The New Republic, a veteran visual editor specializing in politics, global issues, and the environment.

Ron Haviv – Emmy-nominated filmmaker and award-winning photojournalist, co-founder of VII, whose work on conflict and human rights has shaped global conversations and appeared worldwide.

April 25th, 10am- 11am EDT

Register:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdQOuy4AW0qqDa8QZRqV8yIPGoI2QFXYlC5CGH_mdlnpTmCOQ/viewform

Related: Friday, April 24 at 5:30PM Photojournalism: Witness + Vision   

Photographers Giles Clarke, Ron Haviv and Shelby Lee Adams join moderator Rick Smolan for a conversation on the evolving role of photojournalism and documentary practice today. Reflecting on the power and responsibility of the image, the panel considers how personal vision, ethics and context shape the stories photographers tell—and how those stories resonate in an age of constant visual exchange.

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."

World Affairs Lecture Series: Unbroken: Solidarity Through the Lens with Professor Nina Berman On April 23

 Via Fashion Institute of Technology

In this virtual World Affairs Lecture, Columbia University Professor Nina Berman will be in conversation with Dr. Souzeina Mushtaq, assistant professor of Communication and Media Studies at University of Wisconsin–River Falls, on the topic of “Unbroken: Solidarity Through the Lens.”

Lifelong New Yorker and photojournalist Nina Berman draws on decades of documenting the city’s defining upheavals. From the depths of the AIDS crisis to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the surge of COVID-19 and waves of protest, to illuminate the moments of collective care that rise amid crises. With a curated selection of photographs, she reflects on how New Yorkers forge bonds of compassion and mutual support even as neighborhoods transform. Berman weaves personal recollection with powerful imagery to reveal that resilience and community are as fundamental to New York’s identity as its skyline. Her work has been exhibited at more than 100 international venues from the Whitney Museum Biennial to the concrete security walls at the Za’atari refugee camp. Public collections include the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Museum of the City of New York, the Harvard Art Museums and the Bibliothèque nationale de France among others. Berman is the recipient of a 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship.

The Department of Social Sciences’ World Affairs Lecture Series fulfills FIT’s mission to foster an understanding of diverse cultures and politics within the international as well as domestic perspectives. It also embraces, supports, and expands upon the president’s campuswide initiative on civility. Find an archive of previous lectures online.

Join using this webinar link:
https://fitnyc.webex.com/fitnyc/j.php?MTID=mc120037050d78d810efa3827321be861

Webinar number: 2864 358 2945
Webinar password: fitnyc (348692 when dialing from a phone or video system)

Or join by phone:
+1-646-992-2010 United States Toll (New York City)

This virtual event is free and open to the public; join using the Webex link and use the password fitnyc.

Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story at the Taos Film Festival April 24 & 26

 

Via Taos Film Festival

PHOTOGRAPHIC JUSTICE: THE CORKY LEE STORY is coming to Taos! All is Well Pictures LLC announces their screening at the Taos Film Festival in Taos, NM.

The award winning documentary on legendary photographer CORKY LEE coming April 24 and 26. “Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story” premiered at DOC NYC and has screened in festivals from Hong Kong to Hawaii. It is director Jennifer Takaki’s first film; the team also includes editor Linda Hattendorf, who is a resident of Taos and a board member of the Taos County Historical Society.

"It's not important that people remember me. It's more important that they remember my photos."
- Corky Lee

A fierce advocate for inclusion of the Asian American Pacific Islander community in the national discourse, Corky Lee consistently challenged stereotypes and discrimination with his camera. He documented AAPI activism in the United States long before the Asian American Movement was acknowledged by the press.

Lee's images have played a key role in highlighting the many struggles and contributions of Asian American Pacific Islanders in modern American history, and in advocating for positive change and advancement of this often-overlooked community.

The film weaves together rare verite footage of Corky's daily life in New York; interviews with Corky and noted historians, authors, actors, and activists in his circle; archival footage; illustrations; and most importantly a rich trove of Corky's stunning photographs spanning 50 years.

Friday’s 7:30pm screening at the Harwood Museum will be followed by a Q&A with Director Jennifer Takaki and Editor Linda Hattendorf.

Passes and tickets here

 Via The Stranger

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Stranger 🗞 (@thestrangerseattle)

Seattle-based photographer Nate Gowdy went to Minneapolis twice this year, to document the Department of Homeland Security’s Operation Metro Surge and photographed the civilian efforts to protect their communities from the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. “When I arrived in Minneapolis, I expected to find overarmed agents, tear gas clouds, traumatized civilians, and I did. I also found people walking their dogs, running errands, meeting for dinner,” he wrote. “Daily life continued, but it was unmistakably altered. Community events were canceled. It came through in every conversation with residents: weekend plans became risk assessments about the federal agents operating in residential neighborhoods without visible name tags or badge numbers. Tension lived in lowered voices and furtive glances toward any vehicle with tinted windows.” Read more at The Stranger.

Video Produced by Dave Quantic. Assistant Editor Danielle Driehaus.

All images courtesy of Nate Gowdy

"Caught in the Crackdown" Tuesday, April 14 on PBS and Online

 Via PBS/Frontline

April 11, 2026

FRONTLINE and ProPublica trace the violence, protests and arrests stemming from federal immigration sweeps across the United States. The documentary examines the tactics, legal cases and impact — from Los Angeles to Chicago to Minneapolis.

Premieres Tuesday, April 14 on PBS and online.

FRONTLINE is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.

Stream Here on PBS.org

Check Your Local Listings for Broadcast Schedules 

Gabriela Campos Photographs Albuquerque Lowriders For National Geographic

 Via National Geographic

April 9, 2026

A once-banned Mexican American tradition is making a comeback

Lowriding had been outlawed across the U.S. Now, it’s making a comeback — and nowhere more fashionably than in Albuquerque, thanks to a passionate group of locals.

The 1961 Chevrolet Impala leaps skyward with a bounce, chrome flashing in the New Mexico sun. At the wheel, Angelica Griego presses a switch on the dash and again sends the car bunny-hopping, leaping a couple of feet clear off the ground. Her window is down, two-inch hot pink nails resting casually on the doorframe, strands of cherry-red tinsel glinting in her hair. In the back seat, I grip the plush leather and do my best to look unfazed.

“Nice car!” hollers a man from across the street, followed by a long, appreciative whistle. Behind oversized sunglasses, Angelica remains cool as a cucumber, the honeyed tones of 1960s crooner Brenton Wood drifting through her speakers. We’ve been cruising through the heart of Albuquerque along Central Avenue, home to the longest urban stretch of Route 66, for barely 10 minutes and already he’s the third such vocal admirer. Others snap photos, eager to capture a fleeting glimpse of pure Americana rolling past.

I’ve come to the state’s largest city to delve into the world of lowriding, a tradition of driving low-slung cars, often intricately customised and lavished in symbolism, that’s part of Mexican American culture. It first emerged in the 1940s in the South West, among communities who faced social marginalisation and drew on the bright colours and intricate designs of traditional Mexican aesthetics. In New Mexico, where nearly half the population identifies as of Mexican descent — the highest percentage of Hispanic residents in the US — it became as much a state symbol as green chilli. --continue to full article

Monroe Gallery At The 45th Edition Of The Photography Show Presented By AIPAD

Monroe Gallery of Photography is pleased to exhibit at the 45th edition of The Photography Show presented by AIPAD, returning to the Park Avenue Armory in New York City April 22 - 26, 2026.

Monroe Gallery will be located in booth B10, and are proud to present a distinctly curated exhibit, with a central focus on Diné (Navajo) photographer Eugene Tapahe’s “Jingle Dress Project”. “The Jingle Dress Project” brings global attention to Native American issues of land, water rights, women's issues, and the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Another feature of the exhibit will be a selection of important contemporary photojournalism with a focus on American politics and the recent ICE enforcement crisis of militarization on communities.

The final highlight exhibit will be a special selection of Tony Vaccaro's iconic photographs of Art, Style, and Fashion.

Preview the exhibition here.

Tickets available here.

Show information:

April 22 - 26, 2026

Thursday, April 23

12:00pm – 8:00pm Public Hours

5:00pm – 8:00pm Collector Cultivation Evening

Friday, April 24

12:00pm – 7:00pm Public Hours

5:00pm – 7:00pm Night of Photography, presented with ICP

Saturday, April 25

12:00 pm – 7:00pm Public Hours

Sunday, April  26

11:00am – 5:00pm

Park Avenue Armory

643 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10065

Eugene Tapahe

Togetherness, Sisters, Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, Goshute and Timpanogos, 2023

Ryan Vizzions

Faces of Fascism, Minneapolis, January, 2026

Tony Vaccaro

Givenchy by the Pool, South of Paris, France, 196

 

Iconic photo ‘The Soiling of Old Glory’ still makes an impact 50 years later; will be featured in "America The Beautiful" exhibit

Via WGBH

By Diane Adame

April 3, 2026

This April 5, 1976 photo of a white teenager, Joseph Rakes, assaulting a Black man, lawyer and civil rights activist Ted Landsmark, with a flagpole won the Pulitzer Prize for spot photography. The photo was taken during a protest against court-ordered desegregation busing.

Stanley Forman (used with permission)

It has been 50 years since the Pulitzer-Prize winning photo “The Soiling of Old Glory” was taken as a busing desegregation protest erupted throughout City Hall Plaza in Boston.

The photo, which was taken on April 5, 1976, shows a young white man gripping an American flag and aiming it at a young Black man during the protest. The image drew national attention for how it vividly captured racial unrest during the busing crisis in the 1970s.

“The photograph has had significant impact over the decades because it was taken during a bicentennial year where the country was celebrating a number of democratic principles which in fact were being contradicted by what the photo depicts,” said Theodore “Ted” Landsmark, the Black man captured in the photograph.

Stanley Forman, the newspaper photographer who took the photo for the Boston Herald American, still remembers that day.

“It was a Monday… I asked the editor, Alvin Saley, what was going on. He told me there was a demonstration — we went to demonstrations every day — it was an anti-busing demonstration at City Hall,” he said. “I asked if I could go to it, and he said, ‘Sure.’”

The protest was one of many happening in Boston at the time ever since the city began busing students outside of their neighborhoods in 1974 in an effort, mandated by the courts, to desegregate schools.

Forman said he was switching his camera lens when he saw a group of white student protesters walking through the plaza.

“I saw a couple of Black men taking the turn, coming up from Court Street to come onto the plaza, and they were attacked,” he said.

“Ted got the worst of it,” he said. “ They threw things at them, they kicked them, knocked them down and in the end, Joseph Rakes, who was holding the flagpole, whacked him in the nose.”

Landsmark said he was on my way to a meeting in Boston City Hall to discuss affirmative action efforts to bring more employment to people of color in the city.

“I thought that if I simply continued to walk straight, I’d be able to get into City Hall without really encountering the front edge of the demonstrators,” he told GBH in an interview remembering the incident. “But a number of the students walked by me and then several circled back, yelling racial epithets at me.”

Michael Curry, a member of the NAACP national board of directors and head of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, said the photo continues to have an impact because it didn’t happen that long ago.

“It made it even more clear for a generation of us that Boston was a tale of two cities, one where people came for opportunity if you were Irish, Italian, Polish, and Jewish,” Curry said, “And another city that had also resisted black political, economic and educational progress in the city.”

Landsmark said he never anticipated that the photo would still be a topic of discussion all these years later.

“Many of the issues that were raised by that photo remain a salient issue, and — unfortunately — unresolved today,” he said. “My hope would be that looking back at it a half century later, we would reflect on the amount of work that remains to be done in order to achieve racial equality in the United States in this year.”

Forman said the photo often gets compared to more recent pictures racial tensions in the U.S.

“The picture gets resurrected every few years because of something happening in this country,” said Forman. “Thankfully, it hasn’t been outdone yet, but nothing lasts forever. Although this picture I think will last the test of time.”

"The Soiling of Old Glory" will be featured in "America The Beautiful", an exhibition of compelling and provocative photographs illustrating America, American life, and the American people as the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday amid the erosion of civil rights, human rights, and democratic norms May 23 - April 9, 2026 at Monroe Gallery of Photography.

A country full of contradictions. 250 years of the USA. Mark Peterson

 A country full of contradictions. 250 years of the USA. - laif

Via LAIF

March 28, 2026

Mark Peterson

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

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

We start with Mark Peterson, one of New York's most respected photojournalists. We asked him for his assessment of the state of American society and the future of photojournalism.

Mark, the United States is approaching its 250th anniversary – an event that is attracting worldwide attention. What does this milestone mean to you in terms of your work? Is there a photo that you think best represents the U.S., whether it's at this moment or at any other time?

A photo I took of a portrait of President Trump. It hung on a building; I photographed it through a fence. An American flag hung over Trump's face. Mark Peterson

How would you describe the current mood in the country?

I have reported extensively on the current Trump administration and also on the people on the streets who are protesting against the Trump administration and ICE in the United States. The current mood in the country is divided: half of the population thinks things are going in the right direction, while the other half believes they are going in the wrong direction.

In view of the flood of AI images, disinformation and fake news on the Internet: How do you currently see the role and importance of photojournalism and the media?

I think photojournalism and citizen journalism have had a big impact – especially in Minneapolis, where photos and cell phone videos have directly contradicted the official statements of Trump administration officials.

 Do you think that photographs can influence public sentiment and opinion, or is that too optimistic a view?

Yes, photos, videos and social media are still very influential and shape public opinion. In Minneapolis, ICE's images have changed the debate, and the government has withdrawn from Minneapolis.

Has your way of photographing changed because photos are now mostly published online and viewed on mobile phones?

No.

What is the biggest challenge photojournalists face in the future, and what would you like to see in your profession?

The biggest challenge is the lack of funding for long-term projects. And that newspapers and media houses close and cut jobs.

Full article here

Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson is a photographer based in New York City. He is the author of two books: »Acts Of Charity« (2004, published by powerHouse Books) and »Acts Of Charity« »Political Theatre« (2016, published by Steidl). In 2018, he was awarded the W. Eugene Smith Award for his work on "White Nationalism".

He is represented by Redux Pictures for editorial assignments and his work appears in magazines and newspapers such as the New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, the New York Magazine, French Geo, Fortune and Time Magazine.

His work is in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the International Center of Photography, the George Eastman Museum, and the Fine Art Museum of Houston. Since 2014, Peterson has focused on the decay of U.S. democracy and the rise of nationalism, and will publish a book about this work at Powerhouse in the winter of 2027.

Monroe Gallery will exhibit a selection of Mark Peterson's photographs from Minneapolis at The Photography Show presented by AIPAD, April 22-26 in booth B10.

The Photography Show Presented by AIPAD Announces 2026 Programming ; Includes Photojournalism: Witness + Vision With Ron Haviv

 Via AIPAD

The Photography Show Presented by AIPAD  Announces 2026 Programming  The Park Avenue Armory | 643 Park Avenue, New York April 22-26, 2026 | VIP Opening Wednesday, April 22, 2026 

Friday, April 24 at 5:30PM Photojournalism: Witness + Vision Photographers Giles Clarke, Ron Haviv, and Shelby Lee Adams join moderator Rick Smolan for a conversation on the evolving role of photojournalism and documentary practice today. Reflecting on the power and responsibility of the image, the panel considers how personal vision, ethics and context shape the stories photographers tell—and how those stories resonate in an age of constant visual exchange.

The Photography Show presented by AIPAD is pleased to announce its programming for the 45th edition of the fair. Anchored by AIPAD Talks, the series will commence on Thursday, April 24, at 1PM when this year’s AIPAD Award winner, Deborah Wilis, University Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, will be in conversation with Brendan Embser, Senior Editor at Aperture. AIPAD Talks will take place over the four public days of The Photography Show in the famed Veterans Room designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, from Thursday to Sunday. 

Highlights include Interventions in Photography, with artists David Alekhuogie, Gail Albert Halaban and Aundre Larrow in conversation, moderated by Elise Swopes, Founder, Sunrise Art Club + Night on the Yard, to discuss the varied techniques, tools and interventions photographers are using today throughout the creative process—whether classic darkroom edits or experimental mixed media and AI-assisted workflows—that continue to push photography into new territory; photographer and visual artist Laurie Simmons joins Drew Sawyer, Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography at the Whitney Museum of American Art and co-curator of the 2026 Whitney Biennial, for a dynamic conversation tracing the evolution of her practice and the ideas driving her work today; America at 250/Divergent Realities: Photography and Documentation, featuring Stephanie Tung, The Byrne Family Curator of Photography, Peabody Essex Museum; Makeda Best, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs, Oakland Museum of Contemporary Art; and Jami Powell, Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Indigenous Art at the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, in conversation to explore how photography has shaped and complicated the ways we document, remember and challenge canonical American history and how images both preserve national memory and challenge dominant narratives; and From Concept to Feature: Creative Directors on the Power of Photography, featuring leading creative directors Matteo Mobilio of WSJ Magazine, Samantha Adler of Cosmopolitan and Noelle Lacombe of The Cut in conversation moderated by CNN Senior Style Reporter Rachel Tashjian to to explore the editorial process from initial concept to final spread, unpacking how image-making decisions reflect, challenge and ultimately influence the way we see the world.  

“This year’s AIPAD Talks program highlights photography’s power to question history, shape identity and inspire new ways of seeing,” said Lydia Melamed Johnson, Executive Director of AIPAD and The Photography Show. “From groundbreaking artists to visionary curators and scholars, these conversations reflect the depth, diversity and dynamism that define the photographic community ."

  Full schedule here

  Visit us during The Photography Show in Booth B10

Meet the caretakers archiving Renee Macklin Good's memorial, Ryan Vizzions and James Forbes

 Via MPR News

March 24, 2026

Ryan Vizzions has been photographing items left behind at the memorial for Renee Macklin Good, who was fatally shot by a federal agent in January in Minneapolis. Ben Hovland | MPR News

Nearly three months after Renee Macklin Good was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis, a dedicated group of volunteers still watches over the site daily. They’re thinking now about the future of the memorial there as they archive what mourners have left behind.

“It's really important for me … to make sure that we preserve these items for future generations,” said Ryan Vizzions, a volunteer who’s been living for months in his van with his dog, Freedom.

Vizzions is collecting and documenting signs, stuffed animals, hats and candles from the memorial in a garage a few minutes' drive away — a space provided by someone he met through social media.

It's a cozy space. There are large boxes of signs, each neatly labeled by size. Some of them had been outside for months and needed to be dried out before Vizzions could photograph them.

He has a box of small items he hasn’t gotten to yet: handmade bracelets, small trinkets. Archiving requires attention to detail.

It isn't clear what will happen to the materials once they're photographed and archived.

For the pair, the fire reiterated the need to protect and preserve the memorial. Visitors continue to show up daily with letters, flowers, candles and signs.

Caretakers have created a path at the vigil site with mulch and stone pavers. They hope to plant flowers now that it's warm outside.

Vizzions said it’s a balance between trying to honor Macklin Good while also honoring the community that lives immediately around the memorial.

For the pair, the fire reiterated the need to protect and preserve the memorial. Visitors continue to show up daily with letters, flowers, candles and signs.

Caretakers have created a path at the vigil site with mulch and stone pavers. They hope to plant flowers now that it's warm outside.

Vizzions said it’s a balance between trying to honor Macklin Good while also honoring the community that lives immediately around the memorial.

Full article here

Monroe Gallery will exhibit a selection of Ryan Vizzions' photographs from Minneapolis at The Photography Show presented by AIPAD, April 22-26 in booth B10.

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.

 

Fear Is Different Here

 Via The Stranger

March 13, 2026

I photographed the mob at the Capitol on January 6. What I saw in Minneapolis was scarier.

By Nate Gowdy

Observers blow whistles in Minneapolis to signal that feds are present. Nate Gowdy

Seattle-based photographer Nate Gowdy went to Minneapolis to document the Department of Homeland Security’s Operation Metro Surge. From January 17 to January 26, and February 13 to February 18, he photographed the civilian efforts to protect their communities from the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. This is what he saw.

...When I arrived in Minneapolis, I expected to find overarmed agents, tear gas clouds, traumatized civilians, and I did. I also found people walking their dogs, running errands, meeting for dinner.

Daily life continued, but it was unmistakably altered. Community events were canceled. It came through in every conversation with residents: weekend plans became risk assessments about the federal agents operating in residential neighborhoods without visible name tags or badge numbers. Tension lived in lowered voices and furtive glances toward any vehicle with tinted windows.

For eight days, I worked from a rented Toyota RAV4 with Texas plates with a group of other photojournalists. We taped a PRESS sign inside the windows as a disclaimer to the volunteers standing on almost every street corner in the subzero cold. We tracked federal movements through Signal channels, mixing confirmed sightings with rumors in a steady stream of pings. We stayed in contact with five other cars of photojournalists, all trying to document every abduction—failed or successful—that we could.

As we moved through the city, residents told us about their community-led rapid-response trainings. Volunteers distributed whistles and explained how to document raids safely. From this peaceful resistance, we learned to drive slowly through residential blocks, roll down our windows, and identify ourselves.

“We’re press. We’re watching ICE, too.”

Five years earlier, on January 6, 2021, I photographed the pro-Trump mob as thousands laid siege to the United States Capitol. Claims that “Might Makes Right” exploded into acrid fear. I have an audio recording of that day, when I was deep in the crowd at the Capitol steps, that can still bring back that fear. Wild and chaotic.

In Minnesota, the fear worked differently. It folded itself into school pick-ups, grocery runs, work commutes. People recalculated familiar routes before starting engines. Ordinary traffic drew scrutiny. Conversations sought a lower volume. Or went completely underground. The anxiety was procedural.

Veteran conflict photographers deployed to Minneapolis recognized the pattern: when heavily armed forces operate in civilian space, residents adjust.  Click for full article