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Noose, Chain, Door

Noose, Chain, Door

"When I noticed that noose, I saw symbolism," Karen says of this photo of a Klan member's home. "The noose on its own delivers a powerful message. But when I stepped back a few feet, and included part of the homeowner's door in the photograph, it became something else. Something more personal. I might document a child at play, or a husband who happens to be a Klan member embracing his pregnant wife, but those photos don't mean that I'm trying to show the Klan in a specific light. And the same holds true for the picture of the noose -- it's symbolic of the Klan's history, of course, but there's also symbolism as it applies to a person who would hang it outside his home."

Photo: Blank/Time & Life Pictures

Apr 13, 2009