Two apparently diverse national myths of land and people are explored in recent photographic exhibitions by Cindy Bernard and John Kippin….the work of both photographers seems haunted…

…Bernard’s ghosts are absences which leave the images dislocated, as though the focus of attention were misplaced, fixing on something that had long since passed away. Often what looks like it should be the main subject appears in shadow or way off centre, or there is a blankness about the images which reinforces their status as backdrops…

…Bernard may cause us to reflect on national myths; we can read the ghosts of heroes and victims, real or imagined, into the empty spaces of her landscapes, while in often crepuscular conditions, which may be sunsets, she shows us reminders of the United States’ reflections on itself at a time when the hope of breaking with the prevailing habits of oppression was raised and then abandoned… – Julian Stallabrass, 1995

Stallabrass, Julian, Authentic Fakes, Art Monthly, June, 1995