Like a sniper positioned at an elevated vantage point, I photographed members of the National Rifle Association attending the 2018 National Convention, held in Dallas, Texas. Forearmed with stereotypes about second amendment supporters, I was unexpectedly confronted with endearing children, attentive parents, and affectionate couples.

Through the gunsight of the camera's viewfinder, these captive escalator riders are metaphoric stand-ins for the 58 concertgoers on the Las Vegas Strip, the 5 police officers in downtown Dallas, the 9 congregants in Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, the 22 shoppers at an El Paso Walmart, the 10 weekend revelers in Dayton, Ohio and other victims of mass murder events involving automatic weapons.

Through this contrived threat of violence, I explore questions of vulnerability and culpability. Here gun rights advocacy, freedom of expression, issues of privacy, and the objectification of individuals meet in a moving minefield of ideological and emotional conflict. With tenderness and aggression, Shooting Blanks at the NRA wonders if empathy can engender reconciliation.

These photographs were made with written permission from NRA Media who issued me official press credentials to photograph at the National Convention.