Peter van Agtmael: Look at the USA

On View: April 14 through June 26, 2022

Bronx Documentary Center Annex
364 E. 151st St, Bronx, NY 10455

Look at the USA, an exhibition of the work of noted documentary photographer Peter van Agtmael, will focus on the fault lines of the post-9/11 United States, at home and abroad.

This exhibition was curated by Cynthia Rivera, Peter van Agtmael and Michael Kamber with additional support from Paul Stremple and Bonnie Briant.

This exhibition was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

The 128 photographs span the period 2006-2021; they examine the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their domestic consequences–wounded soldiers and the families of the fallen.

This work also explores crucial social and political issues such as nationalism, militarism, refugees, race and class, as well as the tumultuous events that led up to the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol. Texts accompanying each photograph address van Agtmael’s complex motivations as he took these photographs, while providing broader political and historical context.

The title of the show comes from a library book van Agtmael found at Baghdad College, a prestigious high school for boys founded by American Jesuits in Iraq. The school was “an emblem of a time when the United States was known in the Middle East not for military action, but for culture and education.”