100 Yard Signs for Biden and Trump
If these are signs of the time, then times are a-changing
Four years ago, I published one hundred photos of one hundred yard signs. The photo series 99 Trump Signs and 1 Hillary reflected the scant enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton and the very many yard-signs in support of Donald Trump in my local area. It also reflected my anxiety about the then-looming 2016 election.
In this strangest of years, I decided to repeat the methodology and gauge political preferences through the visible lawn signs my area of the Hudson Valley, NY.
I later collected the century of images from 2016 for a self-published book and showed the complete series, along with staged self-portraits of me as a Maga-declaring Trump supporter, in a local exhibition titled “Make Art Great Again.”
At least my anxiety spurred me to create new work.
To my eyes, in 2016, the ratio of signs I observed and photographed was about 100 to 1. I ended my story with one Hillary sign which hung on a dead tree in the middle of a field and read “Hillary for Prison 2016.”
Still, I was as shocked as everyone around me when Trump won (or as the NY Times wrote that night, “Trump Triumphs”), with the polls all predicting a Hillary win (which she did — at least the popular vote) but seeing all the signs around me prior to November, in retrospect perhaps I was not completely surprised.
So, what’s happening this time and where are the “signs” pointing? I am happy to see much more enthusiasm for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris everywhere I go. Flags are flying, lawn signs are planted in large numbers, in different colors, store-bought or hand-painted, many with messages against the sitting president, who is now part of the establishment, even if he declares himself not. I even saw a hand-written “Republicans for Biden/Harris”. I wish we had more of those around.
There is still a lot of visual support for Trump and Pence but many homes that previously proudly flew his flag are now silent, or show signs for local Republican politicians instead–meaning they are still Republican but no longer vocally supporting the President. Of course some new and crazier Trump signs are around, such as the popular “Trump 2020 No More Bullshit” flags and yard signs proudly dotting front yards. I think we all know his most ardent supporters will only get more fired up, but like I said, there are so many more Biden/Harris signs in comparison to the utter lack of Hillary signs. Let’s hope!
With that in mind I am presenting a series of 100 signs for the 2020 election, exactly four years after the previous visual survey. What is the ratio this time and who will win? I have my hunch but without trusting the polls who knows. Let truth, honesty and just good humanity prevail. Go vote!
Thank you for reading/looking. @alonkoppel
