I was revisiting the website of my photo god, Martin Parr, and was reading about some of the photographers he admired. Paul Shambroom was on the list and I can see why Mr. Parr likes his work. Much of that work explores American power and culture.

The images below are from his Meeting Series. Paul traveled across the country to visit small forms of local government. He took his own minutes at these meetings and they accompany the images on his site. He has also published a book of this work titled, Meetings.

“My photographs of government meetings are part of my long-term investigation of power begun in previous series on nuclear weapons, factories and corporate offices, and currently on homeland security training and preparation.

A common impulse in these projects is my quest as one individual to understand and illuminate seemingly overwhelming and abstract power systems. Although town council and community meetings are open to the public, the process of governance can still seem somewhat invisible and separate from the lives of ordinary people (as evidenced by the fact that many of the meetings I photographed were sparsely attended.)”

He will be exhibiting “Paul Shambroom: Picturing Power” at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Oct 3- Nov 19th.