The first-ever collaboration between Shepard and the estate of legendary photographer Jim Marshall, American Civics, debuts this month! Shepard is interpreting Marshall's iconic photography from the 1960's, including images of Johnny Cash, Cesar Chavez, and Fannie Lee Chaney, with five new works, vividly depicting the humanity behind some of the country's enduring social issues: Voting Rights, Mass Incarceration, Worker's Rights, Gun Culture, and Two Americas.
"In this piece, I completely changed the composition. I have the mother behind the kids as if she's leaning over them in a protective way. In the original photograph, she's off to the side. Also, a lot of the things I've woven into the collage and the background are really important. I've tried to render the window so it's light outside, [because] it's very dark outside and doesn't come across in the original photo."
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