Jeff Corwin’s autopsy of gun culture is a clinical presentation of dark, theatrical still-life photography in his exhibition, Guns in America. This is a series that leaves no ambiguity of the violent attributes surrounding America’s obsession with the Second Amendment. Film noir-esque in its dark content and staged props that so obviously represent society’s evils… Corwin says, “The images are not subtle. Nor is the subject matter and the violence that we face every day.” Twenty plus years ago, when the first school kids jumped out windows to escape a mass-shooting event, guns played a side-lined role to the attention and blame laid upon unsuspecting, absentee parents, peer bullying and mental health. Now, there is no mistaking the outsized role guns, particularly high-magazine semi-automatic rifles, play in the amount of tragic death we experience in our America, today.

This exhibition is difficult to look at and overtly disturbing, but when we allow politicians to mythologize guns for the purpose of repressing our freedoms for a few to remain in power, we need to take a clinical look at what we expect from our government. This Fourth of July, the most powerful act of citizenship that you can express is your right to critique our democracy and strive to truly act on behalf of every person in our country. Join us on June 30th for an opening reception with hot dogs, cold beer and fundraising for an organization that supports reasonable gun legislation for our times.

“...I laid the gun on top and took a test shot in color. It was then that something snapped. The image still didn’t really communicate anything to me, (other than being pretty) but I felt that I was going in the right direction. I would go on to use the guns illustrating my thoughts on the absence of sane policy in the United States. For the rest of that year, I spent hours upon hours wandering antique stores and junkyards looking for props to build the sets. The lighting became a paramount component of the 18 images that followed; harsh light, both frontal and from the side, with loud, tweaked and saturated colors.

Donations to BRADY: United Against Gun Violence.