American Mirror
American Mirror is a portrait of American volatility—
a view of a nation in flux, torn between its future and its
past. The Ferguson unrest, in 2014, served as a flashpoint
not only for the photographer’s understanding of his home
country but for America itself. The sense of optimism
and progress that had been reflected in the election
of the first black president had given way to something
else—a fractured, churning, conflicted state. The subjects
of Montgomery’s images are everyday Americans caught
between moments of grief, crisis, anger, euphoria, fear,
and relief. While working in the tradition of documentary
photography, Montgomery’s approach is markedly more
cinematic, capturing in sharp relief a nation frozen like a
film still—a tragedy unfolding without end…
curator
Anne-Marie BECKMANN
partners Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, Fotohaus
