Justin Kimball: Who by Fire

The wear and tear of an uncertain present: a photographic account of contemporary America

Massachusetts-based photographer Justin Kimball’s (born 1961) Who By Fire considers contemporary American life as it relates to a complex history of economic, religious and political environments. Kimball’s work wrestles with the complications of the current moment while trying to imagine the promise of a future that is unknown and tenuous. Unflinching photographs of people in neighborhoods, streets and yards document moments where the burden of the present day visibly presses in upon bodies and physical surroundings, while also conveying the resilience and hope maintained under that weight. The people in these pictures are further contextualized by photographs that point to the visual markers of humanity in the landscape, either unintended or by design: a wall painting of a sun dial, a rising angel nailed to the side of a barn, a woman asleep on a blanket paired with a tree set on fire.