NOT MY PRESIDENT

This collection of photographs, entitled ‘Not My President,’ documents President Trump, from his election through his presidency and its end. The series consists of three hundred and thirty composited photographs aimed at creating surreal visual narratives about Donald Trump. On occasion I include text in the images to share opinions. Whether purely visual or with text I am commenting on Donald Trump’s presidency, as a political figure and as a person, covering such aspects as his immaturity, his lack of morals and his narcissism. The series is political and protest art, filtered through the vision of the resistance to Trump. These images are grounded in the long relationship between art and politics. I use satire, humor and irony to deliver a portrayal of the abuses of power within current societal dimensions. As a social worker and a mental health therapist for thirty years, I used my art as an agent for social change and as a means to shape our consciousness. In witnessing Trump’s abuse of our human rights, I spoke out with visual images to address and illuminate our societally shared struggle to defend our democracy. My overriding goal with every image was to render visible what I believed was not being recognized for its importance to we the people. While on first impression the images often appear humorous, their commentary is dark. The series is in sequential order, which acts as a timeline, based on the events of Trump’s becoming our president and continuing throughout his official role. Terry Barrett selected an image from this series for his book, “Criticizing Photographs, An Introduction to Understanding Images,” published by Routledge in 2020. The image is an example of the category titled Ethically Evaluative, in which Mr. Barrett writes that these “...photographs describe and explain and are tempered by the makers’ personal views of the world, but most distinctively make value judgements about social issues and moral concerns. They praise or condemn aspects of societal relations of people interacting with one another and with the planet. They show how things out or ought not to be. They are politically engaged, passionate, and meant to provoke human intervention.” Other images from the series have received awards from International Awards (IPA) and “Prix de la Photographie, Paris (PX3) and have been included in various touring exhibitions.