Centuries into the future, when high school students open their History apps to the unit on the fall of the American empire, they’ll probably watch interviews by Soft White Underbelly and see photographs by Michael Dressel. The artist and photojournalist grew up in East Germany in its Communist era, and no doubt he understands both the permanence of the present in an empire, and the quickness with which it can crumble.
I imagine he’s seeing the same thing happen in America. The mistrust of authority, the thought policing, the decay of infrastructure, the transfer of wealth, the desperation of self harm and crime. We’re out here trying to survive, watching a disassociated class debate our pain and poverty from ivory towers, jockeying for power over backdoor corporate deals and imperialist military interventions. Dressel has photographed the fallen streets of Los Angeles and met the fervent, manically hopeful eyes of Trump’s followers as they welcome Christ’s millionth return to earth. He’s captured the desolate, formerly abundant landscapes that belie the benefits of overseas manufacturing, and immortalized the dead-eyed stare of a human working to survive in an era of houseless consumption. He’s captured the paranoid excitement of a people obsessed with owning the potential to kill themselves or each other.
All of this and more is embodied in his new book, The End is Near, Here, available via Hartmann Books. Check out a few of the books photographs featured here:
