The Architecture of Authority in D.C.
Opening in Washington D.C.’s National Building Museum this Saturday is Richard Ross’s exhibition, The Architecture of Authority. With this body of work, American photographer Richard Ross presents unsettling pictures of architectural spaces that each exert a kind of power over the individual. From a Montessori preschool to churches and mosques, to an interrogation room at Guantánamo and segregation cells at Abu Ghraib, Ross’s photographs reflect the state of our post 9/11 world—one in which he believes the public has become accustomed to the abuse of power, erosion of individual liberty, illegitimate authority, and constant surveillance.
In this video, Richard Ross highlights the physical relationship between the viewer and his images. Ross also gives insight into his new project, Suitable Placement: Juvenile Justice in America.
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Tags: Architecture of Authority, National Building Museum, Richard Ross
April 17th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Ross’ work is phenomenal. I am a huge fan, but I am also the harshest of critics. It seems that the cultural importance of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo were too important to leave out of his “Architecture of Authority” book.
However, I have made the argument that perhaps Ross should have left them out as his images of the two prisons are the loosest of his images and therefore his weakest; compromising the collection as a whole. If that argument interests you, read here:
http://prisonphotography.wordpress.com/2008/12/11/richard-ross-prison-apparatus-and-the-human-touch/