All That Glitters isn’t Gold by Jesse Ryan Brown

Issue 181

From its inception, America has not only benefited from but actively constructed itself on the subjugation of people and land—and little has changed.  Today, as billionaires amass exorbitant wealth and the exploitation of both labor and resources persists, the United States remains deeply entrenched in its legacy of greed.  White supremacy, the foundation of this system, operates like a self-replicating virus, embedding itself within the fabric of the nation. It sustains itself through a symbiotic relationship with greed, justifying exploitation while ensuring its own survival.  This systemic ideology has historically justified its exploitation, from the erasure of Indigenous peoples during westward expansion to the mythologizing of settler ideology while reframing violence and land theft, as growth and prosperity.  Expansionist ideology persists today through the same imperial ambitions, invoking Manifest Destiny-style rhetoric and framing both cosmic and terrestrial resource extraction and colonization as progress. All That Glitters Isn’t Gold weaves historical and contemporary narratives, combining my own photographs with sourced vernacular pictures to examine how ownership and greed function like a virus within American identity, endlessly replicating through cycles of exploitation. By considering how visual narratives are constructed, manipulated, and repurposed, this project explores how those in power control the storytelling—using images to challenge and interrogate these narratives.

Jesse Ryan Brown (he/him) lives and works in Cleveland, Mississippi, USA.
jesseryanbrown.com| @jesse___brown___