Debi Cornwall: Model Citizens

The last in a trilogy of books on the American condition, Model Citizens considers the United States as a case study into a global phenomenon: How have staging, performance, and roleplay come to inform thinking about citizenship in a violent land whose people no longer agree on what is true?Jarringly juxtaposed images from apparently unrelated sites-such as US Border Patrol Academy training scenarios, "Save America" rallies, and history museums-illuminate systems that reconcile, justify, or distract from the harsh realities of life in a polarized, militarized society. The design accentuates slippages: images flow across French-fold page turns, just as Cornwall's practice questions the role of documentary photography in an era of splintered realities.

The Model Citizens project was awarded the 2023 Prix Elysee, a biennial juried prize for mid-career photographers, sponsored by the Photo Elysee Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. The award also includes a grant for a concurrent publication in both English and French (Citoyens Modeles, Editions Textuel, 2024). Both editions will be released to coincide with Les Rencontres de la Photographie d'Arles in July 2024.