Acclaimed German photographer Frank Rothe has worked for Amica Italy, Stern, Die Zeit, Marie Claire U.S., Esquire, Playboy and many others. Rothe’s new portfolio work “No More Angels” has been shot over a year in Los Angeles — see the video version below, best in full screen version.
No More Angels visualizes the demise of the American dream.
The American society, once a symbol of freedom, democracy and of course the American dream, this American society changed a lot. The system that is based on the exploitation of the planet and people becomes weaker and weaker. The lobbyists and the industry bought themselves into the U.S. government long time ago and act only in there own interests. The result is a meltdown of the middle class and a burnout of the people with low income who mostly work seven days a week and have two or even more jobs to just pull through.
L.A. gang member | Frank Rothe
The pressure on society has become so strong that even the most basic humane conditions are a yesterday’s dream. People live on the street and people die on the street.
An overwhelming proportion of police and private security personal watches the American people around the clock.
If you do something wrong (and be it only that you stay for too long on the same street corner because your are homeless), chances are that rather sooner than later a police car will stop right in front of you and arrest you.
I lived in Los Angeles for almost a year and documented the situation on the street with my camera. I experienced the daily terror of surveilance and mistrust. As we all know, weapons are a common thing around Americans. Not only the fear of weapons weakens the society but also the knowledge that the American dream is dead.
And this dream was the basis of the country and its strengths. To see the homeless on the street every day and everywhere tells the story of a society that does not care about human values anymore.
