TOKYO-2019 Editorial / Political

Howl of Home

  • Prize
    Gold in Editorial/Political
  • Photographer
    Dan Tran
  • Technical Info
    Nikon D5100, F/5, 1/1250 Sec, Iso 400
  • Photo Date
    2016

On December 26 of each year, a band of Dakota men would ride 300 miles in freezing weather from South Dakota to Mankato, Minnesota to commemorate the execution of 40 Dakota men at the end of the Dakota War in 1862 which forcibly removed the Dakota people from their land. This picture is also dedicated to other peoples suffering from expulsion from their ancestral land - the Tibetans, Rohingya, and others.

I produce multilayered photomontages from my street images, raising the question of how much our modern-day thoughts and actions have changed from age-old instincts and modes of behavior of our species, whether it's the need to believe in the existence and immortality of the soul, the struggle to affirm our individuality under pressure from the tribe, or our subliminal subjugation to our desires. In my photomontages, I add extra layers of time and space to my street photos by superimposing multiple images. Immediacy & candidness are preserved, but visual unity is disturbed and storytelling i