2026 SPE Annual Conference: Catalyst for Exchange
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print this pageA Cultural Critique
Steven Benson
Friday, November 06 - 2:00PM to 2:55PM
Clemson One Building 1 North Main Street Greenvill
This series of photographs evolved from an interest in public forms of communication, expression and the dissemination of information.
In the days following the attack of September 11th, and the subsequent invasion of Iraq, I became fascinated with the way different entities of American society communicated their sentiments following these events. The US Government, the corporate sector, the religious community and individual citizens found a specific form of expression that best suited their needs. While many of these messages were created as patriotic expressions they also revealed multiple subtexts giving insights into our society formed around a mixture of materialistic commercialized patriotism and the belief in God.
What holds my interest in this body of work addresses how the dialogue between two photographs can subvert and transform each images ‘original intended meaning’ within the context of a cultural critique. The pairing can result from the same subject photographed at two points in time, a change of position, the combining of images from different locations, the facing pages or front and back cover of a magazine. The perceptual process of engaging these images reminds me of looking at photographs of twins; first we notice the similarities, but we end up looking for the differences.
http://www.stevenbensonphotographer.com/
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Steven Benson
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