Land of Hope and Glory

Land Of Hope and Glory

“Land of Hope and Glory”, also known as “Pomp and Circumstance”, is a traditional British patriotic song, written in 1902 by A. C. Benson, with music by Sir Edward Elgar.  (It was adopted in the United States as the music for graduation ceremonies.)

“Land of Hope and Glory” rapidly became one of the most widely popular songs played during World War 1, the war that preceded the excesses of the 1920s and the stock market crash that followed in 1929.  I see a relationship between this period of time in America’s history and the events of the last twenty years.  For that reason, many of the images in this series of work come from Great Depression photographs, which I have re-visioned into contemporary scenes. 

Currently, much of the world is tittering between deflated glory and wishful hope.  This is a time of pessimism and optimism, despair and joy.  My goal is to make images that reflect the gap between these contradictions.