In response to the tragic events of September 11, photographer Nathan Lyons—known for his honest and often questioning depictions of American culture—has created a poignant portfolio of images. Photographing in small towns and large cities, Lyons has captured the extreme and often confusing variety of responses—from deep reverence to blatant commercialization—manifested by ordinary Americans. One will marvel, for instance, at the myriad uses of the American flag.

This provocative sequence of images with multiple messages is powerfully coherent and strangely disturbing. In the tradition of Robert Frank’s The Americans, these photographs will engage audiences to question the responses to this horrific event in the context of our complicated society, along with memorializing the tragic loss of so many innocent lives.

Distributed for the Yale University Art Gallery