The American Street: January 20, 2001 - January 20, 2009

From the foreword written by Howard Zinn

"When a gifted photographer like Kevin Bubriski turns his attention, not to a random selection of images in a visual world infinitely varied, but rather focuses on those scenes of American life which speak to his social conscience, we have a special work of art.

We are living in a world so beleaguered by war, sickness, and poverty – and from which even the privileged population of the United States cannot escape – that every contribution to social change must be welcomed. Artists can make a special contribution, because they can use their talents to awaken the conscience of people who may live in a cocoon of comfort, far from zones of trouble, but who can be confronted with a reality they cannot ignore.

We live now again in a time of war. Once again, there is an atmosphere in which criticism of the war, criticism of government policy is looked upon as “unpatriotic”.
There is a mistaken notion, deliberately propagated by the government, and too often not challenged in the press, that patriotism means unquestioning support of whatever the political leaders decide. But some of the greatest Americans, from the revolutionists of the Boston Tea Party, to Henry David Thoreau protesting the Mexican War, to Mark Twain denouncing our massacre of Filipinos at the start of the 20th century – were dissenters. They understood that true patriotism – true love of country – means being true to the ideals of peace and justice, and not only to the policies of the government.

It is a time when we need our artists to prod our consciences, to show us a reality we may only dimly have perceived, to inform us soberly, to move us emotionally. Kevin Bubriski, in The American Street, through his photographs, joins that long line of artists throughout history who have played a part, modest but crucial, in the long struggle for a better world."

© Howard Zinn 2006