Faith, Hope and Love - Jacob Holdt’s America

Jacob Holdt2001Jacob Holdt. Foto: Theis Mortensen

10.02.12 - 26.08.12

Through approx. 160 photographs Jacob Holdt tells the story of the shady side of the American Dream. The exhibition "Faith, Hope and Love - Jacob Holdt's America" confronts the audience with the photographer's confrontational and heartbreaking pictures of his American tours from the 1970s until today, depicting U.S. harsh realism.

This travelling vagabond has ventured into areas where only few dare to go, and he has taken photographs that have proved eye-openers to many, documenting the dark side of the U.S. The main idea behind the exhibition is to get a closer look at Jacob Holdt the photographer's universe, presenting powerful photographs and tell the story of a different side of the U.S. as viewed through Holdt's lens. The pictures portray city life in rough ghettos, drug addicts in the streets, and the disadvantaged in general, but at the same time they also embrace the faith, the hope, and the love that also infuses the social realities found amongst the U.S. population.

The exhibition is thematically arranged and it reflects on Holdt's way to archive images that maintain the subject's objectivity and sober appearance. The photographs are divided into several themes: weapons, couples, politics and religion, and together they represent a portrait of America as a land of contrasts.

2usa-01332 sjFoto: Jacob Holdt

The exhibition is created in collaboration between Louisiana Museum of Art and Jacob Holdt, 2009