After the Fact
2001-2006 - Re-enactments of a photograph taken at the Execution of the Emperor Maximilian in Mexico, in 1867

The Execution of Mejia, Miramon and Maximilian by Three Firing Squads. (Detail)
Carte de Visite by Aubert, 1867

In The Crimean War and the American Civil War, spectators regularly took picnic baskets to the fields to watch the ongoing battle. The advent of photography enabled wider and much larger audiences, but the space between the ‘real’ of events and the ‘real’ of photographs was unknown territory. To assist the public in this new form of involvement, early photographers often collaged spectators onto their images. After the Fact continues this practice, adding both spectators and participants.

The first part of this project was shown as Shoot at Gasworks Gallery in London in 2001. The entire project was shown as After the Fact at the Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery in Philadelphia in 2006.