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Photography, Text and Video by Jonathan Tang, Copyright 2017
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AMERICA TRUMPED
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Donald Trump: one of the most unexpected “surprises” of 2016. Since his 2017 inauguration, almost every one of Trump’s actions have faced public scrutiny, especially as he threatens America’s foreign relations and global competitiveness. Notable views and actions include:
- Attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which provides healthcare to the underprivileged and poor.
- Banning immigrants from numerous Muslim countries including Iran and Iraq, while ignoring Muslim US allies, including Saudi Arabia.
- Cutting funding for sanctuary cities and organizations, which refuse to detain illegal immigrants.
- Preparing to build a multi-billion-dollar wall between the US and Mexico.
- Encouraging charter and private schools over public education.
- Focusing on the coal industry while ignoring renewable resources.
- Proposing major cuts to climate change research and action.
- Enthusiastically undermining the Justice Department’s checks and balances on the Executive branch.
- Combating free speech by limiting access to information and actively altering the truth.
- And many more.
While this is not an exhaustive list by any means, Trump’s time in office has been distinctly controversial. His clear contempt for the checks and balances of the American government is worrying. In addition, his aggressive manipulation of the truth threatens free speech, one of the most important tenets of America.
In the interest of studying Donald Trump’s manipulation of information, I sought to approach the actions of the Trump administration by through alterations of my own. I photographed everyday scenes and converted them into propaganda, inspired by book covers, magazine spreads, and other everyday sources of information. While some of the images seek to match those found in these sources (especially photographs from magazines overlaid with text), others are my interpretation of America under Trump.
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About The Author: Jonathan Tang is a senior enrolled in the College of the University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2017. Johnathan plans to enroll in medical school once he graduates. To see additional articles by Jonathan Tang, go here: https://tonywardstudio.com/blog/jonathan-tang-light-paper/