Brian Ulrich — The Centurion (pre-order)

The Centurion is named after the moniker of the famed American Express Black Card, which was created in response to persistent rumors of its existence throughout the 1980s. This contemporary tale of the rendering of reality from urban myth is perhaps emblematic of a new Gilded Age – where illusion manifests itself as power through wealth. Brian Ulrich’s photographs examine the construction of desire and myth, and portray wealth as an aspiration, an enchantment, and a means to consolidate power. From store display windows where luxury objects function as precursors to screen culture, to hierarchical views of landscape and architecture, to direct, performative portraiture, The Centurion questions the social, economic, and psychological effects of a system that equates success with plutonomy.
Photography has a particular power to reveal what many are blind to, especially within the culture of privilege. The Centurion shows how commerce and consumption fuel irrational desire, envy, and the pursuit of power, while also revealing the often frail mechanics of its construction, evident in the inherent loss of value of an expired credit card or the folly of a contemporary home built as architecture of defense.