Americana

Americana addresses the ways in which sex, violence and alcohol affect our everyday lives as American citizens. The prevalence of these themes in our country, specifically in regards to media and advertising, facilitates an acceptance of, and often encourages this behavior in its people. I have created photographs that present these topics bluntly, and ask my viewers to confront the realities of our violence-obsessed, sex-driven culture head on. My work, modeled after the straightforward imagery we see in advertisements, push the envelope of what is socially acceptable, asking my viewers to think twice about their own relationship to these issues. This correlation demonstrates the susceptibility of the American people to these addictive habits, and furthermore, how incorporated they are in our visual dialogue. Ultimately, Americana is an exposé of how alcohol, sex and violence can create a more accurate portrait of American culture than its own people can.