Nasrah Omar

Meditations on America

Meditations on America is a series presented as ruminations on the manufactured construct of America, the place and its identity. Its very essence defined by globalization, mass-production, exceptionalism and selling the notion of individual autonomy. These images were made en route, driving from LA to NYC and in the studio subsequently. There’s an inherent interplay of fact and fiction. Through cinematic imagery and staged tableaus, the images explore the underpinning anxiety of contemporary life, unabashed commerce defined by brand awareness and loyalty and the collective notion of individualism mediated by consumerist escape. The narratives interlace consumption, car culture, surveillance and excess - showcasing tokens of cultural hegemony that have become synonymous with the branding of America in the Information Age. Photography in its nature is inherently simulacra, the landscapes and still lives examine a poetic narrative of an aestheticized and anesthetized America in the era of late Capitalism.