NCPR’s David Escobar interviewed Robert Shetterly about the portraits in his exhibit now visiting John Brown Farm, Americans Who Tell the Truth. Read or listen to the interview here.
Shetterly describes his intentions with the portraits in an evocative way:
What I was trying to do is get people to stop long enough to look at the face, read the quote, think about what this might mean in relationship to themselves. Ask themselves, “Well, this is a portrait that’s called, ‘Americans Who Tell the Truth.’ Is this the truth?” You might investigate that a little bit. Ask yourself, “do I agree with that? And if I do agree with it, what should I do in response?” I want these questions to be asked.
photos here from the NCPR website