2 October – 15 November 2008
HOST gallery presents My America, an exhibition of photographs by Christopher Morris bringing together work from his coverage of both the first and second presidential campaign trails of President George W Bush, as well as work from the recent campaigns of both Barack Obama and John McCain.
Rather than focus on individual politicians, Morris’s photographs concentrate on both the details of this staged pageantry that is the campaign machine as well as the devotees of these potential administrations. With his icy clarity he captures scenarios often intimate and sometimes alien; from the cherry-red lips of a supporter in the crowd, frozen in awe, to a secret service agent standing, his back to camera, in an empty concrete basement. This is the work of a man rediscovering his country, observing its people blinded by the glaring light of nationalism.
Morris comments about this work: “For 15 years I have been photographing wars around the world. After the birth of my daughters I knew I wanted to change. In the year 2000, I turned away from wars and set out travelling across the United States documenting President George W Bush for TIME magazine. What I discovered was a people in love with their country and their President, a culture of American society that had found a “divine” Bush, My America is the chronicle of this journey.”
Christopher Morris’ book My America is available through the Foto8 bookshop
A signed, limited-edition Christopher Morris print is available through the Foto8 shop for £35
