A Broken America: A war photographer captures poverty, racism and violence in his native country
36-year-old photographer Peter van Agtmael spent several years in hot spots documenting military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
After returning to the USA, Peter began filming America, trying to re-understand his country and people. Between 2009 and 2012, he photographed manifestations of racism, evidence of poverty and facts of violence and brutality throughout the country. All the works are collected in Peter van Agtmael's new photo book Buzzing at the Sill.
"The fact is that my perception of America is sharpened and to some extent clouded by my experience in the war," the photographer said in an interview.
(11 photos in total)
The acclaimed photographer traveled all over America, wanting to honestly and truthfully highlight the economic inequality and racism that are still alive in some parts of the country. According to Peter van Agtmael, his photobook is "a mixture of reflections of war, memory, militarism, personality, race, class, family, surrealism and landscape."
During the photo trip, Peter stopped in places such as the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Maryland, Brooklyn, New York and New Orleans.
Family mourns the deceased, Detroit, 2012.
Family resting on the floor and watching TV, 2012.
A man in full Ku Klux Klan gear, Maryland, 2015.
On one of the busy streets of Brooklyn, New York, 2010.
A man riding a horse during a parade, New Orleans, 2012.
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, 2011.
A man holds a child at the Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede parking lot (a purely American phenomenon of the "theater and dinner" format: a theatrical performance takes place in front of the dining audience).
Refugees from Iraq rest in a shared house, Portland, 2015.
After the completion of the Kentucky Derby — one of the main races in the USA, 2015.
The photographer also visited the Choctaw tribe, whose ancestors were among five Indian tribes who were forcibly evicted from their lands and sent across several states to Oklahoma. During the resettlement, which was called the "Road of Tears", from 4 to 15 thousand people died.
Keywords: Truth | USA | Photographer | Photobook | Honesty