HANNAH SMITH ALLEN • PHOTOGRAPHY

The Battle of Monmouth is a photographic artist book that explores a Revolutionary War site located outside of Freehold, New Jersey. Today the story of Monmouth exists in fragments; excavated bullets, cloudy horizon lines, and illegible texts mark the battle. As an artist, I am interested in the role interpretation plays in shaping our understanding of the past. How do we build meaning around a pre-photographic event? What are we ultimately looking for when we study empty landscapes, old texts and replicated objects? How does landscape contribute to our sense of national identity?