Comments on: This is Not America

By: Thomas Neff

Thomas Neff — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 20:51:41 +0000

It pleases me no end that folks respond to this photograph, while raising questions of what it is to be American…..or not. Thanks for your comments.

Much more if this work in on view at the Louisiana State Museum, through September 12, 2011

By: Chris Overstreet

Chris Overstreet — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:33:56 +0000

Absolutely it was appreciated, and I agree with the Wonder Woman spirit. I was intentionally being obtuse in my post in order to make my point: that the woman pictured is America. It’s definitely art, and good art, if it inspires debate.

By: girlzoot

girlzoot — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:23:05 +0000

When I read a lot of what was on the Neff site I think a great deal of what he encountered was that American spirit that you are talking about, that desperate need to help each and survive, but also a certain sense of frustration that no one was coming to help them.

I think for me that was what I liked about the photo, the heroic stars on the vaguely flag like background kind of creating a visual that their land for a while was almost a different country to the America they were used to, and yet as people they persevered.