Maryland. 2015 © Peter van Agtmael / Magnum Photos

The KKK had boasted that dozens from their Klan chapter would attend the rally and cross burning, but there were only a few people when we showed up, including a British TV crew and a freelance photographer. After a few vague excuses, the six or seven Klan members changed into their robes and began a show amongst themselves.

One of the leaders started his speech. He shouted that there were ISIS training camps being created by the United Nations with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), whose fighters would then take American’s guns away. This plan was allegedly hatched by Barack Obama (or Barry Soetoro as he was called by the Klan. Soetoro was the surname of Obama’s step- father, and that he was briefly called Barry Soetoro in elementary school in Indonesia has been used as evidence that Obama was not born inAmerica). After finishing, the hoarse-voiced Klan member burned the UN flag and stomped on it, to the tepid cheers from the small crowd.

Buzzing at the Sill is Peter van Agtmael’s exploration of the United States in the shadow of the post 9/11 wars, a sequel to his critically acclaimed Disco Night Sept 11. This new book contains images of race, class, war, memory, torture, nationalism, family, and place, together with short texts that explore the experiences that led to this distinct vision.

The book’s 72 photographs, shot across a decade show subtle new ways of seeing America, both the violence and fortitude, at a troubling historical moment when many wonder how well they know and understand the contrary. Buzzing at the Sill reveals the little seen margins of the U.S, from coast to coast, city to country, and everything in between. 

Pine Ridge, South Dakota. 2011 © Peter van Agtmael / Magnum Photos

While on a road trip with my friend Justin, we met a couple of guys and started chatting. They invited us to check out a spot where they had a rope swing, and on the way we picked up some beer. Dusk was falling and it became a little party; we lit a fire while some of their younger cousins swung over a deep chasm, with just a thin rope around their waist to secure them to the tree.

As the beer ran out and the night began to get colder, they invited us back to their home. Upon arrival, their sister (the matriarch of the family) smelled their breath and became furious. She asked us what possessed us to give them beer. She told us there was rampant alcoholism on the reservation and declared we were just another in a long line of white men exploiting the Lakota. We were filled with tremendous shame and apologized profusely.

As she explained the history of the tribe she mellowed and invited us to spend the night. We awoke in the morning to a beautiful dawn and the youngest children tending to the horses.

Peter van Agtmael: Buzzing at the Sill. 

ISBN 978-3-86828-736-3 €39,90 / US$ 45.00 / £32