Photographer Carrie Mae Weems Unveils Kamala Harris Billboard
Earlier this year, a group of world-renowned artists, including influential photographer Carrie Mae Weems, joined forces to create an Artists for Democracy 2024 project to defeat Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.
At the time of the campaign, which was successfully funded during its month-long endeavor in April, the presumptive ballot battle was to be between incumbent Joe Biden and Republican nominee Trump. But a lot has changed since then, as Biden has dropped out of the race and his Vice President, Kamala Harris, has been selected as his replacement.
Weems has designed a billboard featuring five black-and-white photos of Harris with the words “Leading with compassion, not complaint” sprawled across them.
For now, the billboard is a (very realistic) mockup. People For the American Way tells PetaPixel that Artists for Democracy 2024 will include billboards in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and that they will likely go up in October and stay up for the four weeks leading up to Election Day on November 5, 2024.
The new billboard is part of an ongoing series of artistic commissions for Artists for Democracy, of which Weems is a co-chair. She’s joined by other artists like Shepard Fairey, Ed Ruscha, and more to “create and install artist-designed billboards to get-out-the-vote in the battleground states.”
“Art has the power to change perceptions and inspire action, cutting through the noise and speaking to our hopes, fears, and dreams,” the organization explains. “With your help, we can come together one more time to avoid dictatorship and save democracy.”
Artists for Democracy was initially launched by the progressive political organization People For the American Way ahead of the 2020 election. Weems was also part of the collective then and designed numerous billboards and artwork during that election cycle, including the billboard below.
The organization will also organize radio advertisements, grassroots events, targeted digital ads, and art activations before the 2024 election.
Photography has already played a fascinating role in this year’s election cycle, with Trump’s presidential campaign leveraging images of him following an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July. A Trump-owned company has gone so far as to sell $299 sneakers with a photo of the bloodied former President raising his fist in the air.
As for Weems, she is no stranger to activism through art. Her influential work has long focused on history, identity, and power. Her most famous work, 1990’s Kitchen Table Series, includes self-portraiture investigating Black lives. Her work routinely uses multi-media elements, including audio, visual, and even textile elements.
As is always the case whenever someone wades into political waters, Weems has not been immune to criticism. One of the photographer’s two Instagram posts about her new billboard design is rife with criticism aimed at both the photographer and Harris. The other post has had a significantly more positive reception so far. One way or another, images are a powerful, albeit polarizing, political tool.
Image credits: Featured image features a billboard designed by Carrie Mae Weems and funded by Artists for Democracy 2024 / People For the American Way
