Reflections on Minnesota

Reflections on Minnesota is a photographic set of sixteen images examining the surveillance of Minneapolis in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. Each image in this series contains two distinct types of imagery. The first is helicopter patterns from May 29th to May 31st, 2020, over Minneapolis. These are the white lines encompassing the entire image. The second type of images are Minnesota bodies of water. The images of water point to an idyllic vision of Minnesota that embraces and celebrates the bounty of lakes and rivers. The name Minnesota is from the Dakota meaning "land where the water reflects the clouds or the sky" and/or "clear blue water". The helicopter patterns reveal the incessant presence of helicopters in May 2020 over Minneapolis. The visual, auditory and sheer repetitive nature of them became a symbol of many things including the protection of property, the monitoring of protestors as well as the feeding of news cycles. In the images, helicopter patterns disrupt, disjoint and cut through the picturesque and calm that bodies of water provide.