Celebrate Photography - Buy It!

Stiv Bators, Amsterdam, Summer 1985

On May 5, 1984, the year that many people, for a variety of reasons, anticipated, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed something that I actually do not disagree with. Take note folks, this is a FIRST, and mostly likely the ONLY thing this particular dead president said or did that doesn't offend me.

His proclamation reads:

Photography, the prime visual recorder of human events, preserves memories, emotion, and sentiment for virtually all Americans. It is an established and growing art form which communicates the beauty and diversity of America as well as the vitality of its culture and its people.


Iggy Pop, 1977

Photography has played an important role in our commercial and artistic lives and in the process of government through motion pictures, video cameras, and still shots.


My camera "watching the detectives," as it were

Photographs preserve the history of the Nation and the changing panorama of American landscape and culture. Visual records also contribute to the advancement of many fields of science, technology, and inquiry, including communications, meteorology, geography, medicine, justice, astronomy and agriculture.


..."I am an American artist and I feel no guilt" - Patti Smith

To honor the invaluable contribution that photography has made to the quality of our life, the Congress has, by Senate Joint Resolution 250, designated the week of May 7 through May 13, 1984, as "National Photo Week" and has authorized the President to issue a proclamation in honor of that occasion.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 7 through May 13, 1984, as National Photo Week, and I call upon the American people to engage in appropriate observances to reflect our appreciation and understanding of the value of photography to the Nation.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eightyfour, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighth.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:51 p.m., May 7, 1984]

Like I said above... this proclamation praising photography is the only thing that Ronald Reagan said that I can stand behind. And I've got this to add: Celebrate Photography by collecting it! BUY IT