Adam Long
This is an ongoing project titled Urgency. In 2017 I made a conscious decision to reconcile my confusion/aggravation/anger about the outrageous failings that are convulsing American society through my photographs. The techniques I am using to make these photographs are visceral and immediate. I have been exploring the city at night, using it as the controlling metaphor. Surrounded by darkness I flood my subjects with light, providing an isolated observation. The rough grit of the city is exposed, recalling the abrasive climate that now permeates the United States.
Exasperated outrage is a common emotion these days. The list of polarizing events is long: the gratuitous repeal of the ACA, the insane politics of the Koch-funded Tea Party, Black Lives Matter, Occupy, Cambridge Analytica, Wikileaks, Permafrost, Birthers, Fake News, EPA, The Wall… and now, COVID-19. We are in a confusing and frightening time where civil discourse readily veers into an incensed hurling of shallow ideological generalizations.
In light of this tumultuous polarizing time we should create visual markers that will remind us of what happened during this era of corrupt, destructive and ultimately failed leadership.