Arts: Take Your Hat Off to These 13 Abe Lincoln Inpersonators

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Behold Take Your Hat Off to These 13 Abe Lincoln Inpersonators By Alyssa Coppelman Posted Friday, Nov 09, 2012, at 03:34 PM ET Behold is Slate's brand-new photo blog. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @beholdphotos and on Tumblr. Discover what this space is all about here. With Barack Obama's re-election, the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, and, not least, Friday's premiere of Lincoln, it seems a fitting time to look at photographer Greta Pratt's series Nineteen Lincolns, of which she's shared a selection with us. Pratt met her first Lincoln while working on her Using History project, and it was a natural next step for her to focus her lens on the many Lincolns who belong to the Association of Lincoln Presenters. Some of them are on view through Dec. 22 at Candela Gallery, in Richmond, Va. The series celebrates one of the most iconic elements of the bedrock of American history and puts a quirky modern twist on it. The Association of Lincoln Presenters' (there are several Mary Todd Lincolns as well) mission statement describes them as "ready, willing and Abe L." Seen one at a time, most of the men immediately read "Lincoln." Seen in a group, as in her group portrait of nine Lincolns (on the gallery's homepage), it is possible to gain focus on one or another element of their differences. Pratt randomly chose to photograph 19 of them out of the 60 or so at the convention who were willing to sit for her. In her project statement, Pratt writes, "While each one started for a ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Here Comes the Groom Secretary Clinton II The Real Story of the Most-Liked Photograph of All Time	Advertisement
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