Red State

Returning from fifteen years in Europe to work in rural Tennessee is

bit of culture shock ... to say the least. This first entry in what

I hope will be a series is part of my attempt to deal with it. Let

me know what you think!

Thanks for your photos. They are objective and very well composed!

Since you asked, I'll have a go at this one. Being confronted with these signs, after spending 15 years in Europe, would be somewhat of a culture shock. Like going back to the dark ages perhaps... (well, not quite that bad, of course!)

It is clear from your presentation (to me, at least), that you are aiming to portray the darker side of America. In particular, this part of Tennessee. It appears that rednecks are alive and well, shoving their opinions in our faces.

I assume that you deliberately chose to keep the images on the dark side and selectively desaturated, whilst 'highlighting' the obvious symbols and signs. They certainly stand out in this collage! The top one sets the scene, I guess. We are now in rural America. Then a sign of god fearing people, then the confederate flag, followed by a stark sign indeed. Some are twisted enough to claim that unborn life should be left alone, whilst prepared to shoot and kill those who are involved with the practice of abortion.

You live in a land of many contrasts, Bill. But then, don't we all...?

Thanks for some interesting comments. You got exactly what I was trying to convey. But, I still need to work on it. As you say, it's a land of contrasts, as are all of them. For example, see the fascist grafitti photo in the Italy section. I would like to find a way for my photographs to convey more complexity. Yes, some of the ideas of these people seem simplistic and intolerant to me. But, they are also much nicer people than the people in the city I live in. I worked in the countryside for two months and now work in the city and the difference is incredible. There is something beautiful about simple patriotism and faith, something not at all simple. Yes, it's easily abused and corrupted but that doesn't negate the value of the idea and I wish I could do a better job of showing that side. I feel like this set kind of panders to the masses a bit. That said, I don't want to diminish the darkness that is absolutely there.