Legends of photography
© MITCH EPSTEIN / COURTESY OF STEIDL
South Beach dredging site, Fort Pierce, Florida, 2005
© PATRICK MCMULLAN / GETTY IMAGES
Mitch Epstein Epstein’s work shows him as one of the great documentarians of post-war America, says Oliver Atwell
A
merica, as we know it today, is more than a country. When the first white settlers ‘discovered’ the land and set up camp on its shores, a process of ideology and philosophy began to take root. This seemingly feral land became a symbol of the pioneer spirit and what would eventually become known as manifest destiny, the belief that the settlers were ordained by God to conquer the land and anything and anyone they found within. 66
Further down the line, America (or more specifically, the United States) became a prison for the immeasurable number of people snatched from Africa and sold into human chattel enslavement. For Mexican migrants, it later became a land of hope, a place where they could either start a new life or work tirelessly to send money back to their families. The fact is, there is no one true America – it can at once be a place of dreams and nightmares.
Mitch Epstein, born in Massachusetts in 1952, recognises all too well that America is both a place and an idea, and has spent the best part of five decades attempting to rectify these two notions. Sunshine Hotel, published by Steidl, brings together 175 of Epstein’s images (taken between 1969 and 2015) and acts as perhaps the best survey, not just of Epstein’s work, but of America’s most defining years. In the 1970s, Epstein became a student of the photographer Garry Winogrand. You can see that clear influence of Winogrand in Epstein’s almost anthropological studies of the cultural and political events that shook up post-war America. It was his early adoption of colour that made his images stand out back then. He took to the medium eagerly, recognising its potential to draw the viewer in and show them a world they recognised, rather than the romanticised version they had become so
accustomed to in the previous years of documentary work. Actually, that term – ‘documentary work’ – doesn’t entirely do Epstein’s work justice. Whether covering the white supremacy movement, surveillance after 9/11 or the results of Ronald Reagan’s economic ideology during the 1980s, Epstein’s work carries the weight of much more than detached documentation. Each image is laser-focused and direct in its ability to engage us on an artistic level. The presence of narrative and vibrant colour suggest someone concerned with creating images that belong on gallery walls. Epstein, in photographs such as the one above, forces us to confront the reality of our world. Through his images, we find that there is no one clear path to the future. There will always be winners and there will always be losers.
Sunshine Hotel by Mitch Epstein is published by Steidl and priced at €69. ISBN 978-3-95829-609-1
14 March 2020 I www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
