Shane Booth
Photography

“In the Tall Grass” is a series of works consisting of cyanotypes on prairie dresses and bonnets. These dresses and bonnets, with their historical and cultural significance serve as a canvas to explore themes of family history and dynamics, as well as American history. I choose the prairie dress, which is a symbol of rural life, to pay homage to the strong women in my family who settled the plains of Nebraska. By cyanotyping images onto these dresses, I am wanting to create a dialogue between the past and the present. The images I choose range from vintage photographs to the personal property of ancestors. Each one brings new meaning to the dresses and the ways we understand our histories. They explore themes of masculinity, family trauma, and cultural identities. I choose these themes to resonate with the dress and its history hoping to evoke conversations about America and its troubled past.