With the 2024 election just days away, there is no shortage of reflections on the state of American politics and democracy.

But photographer Paul Shamroom has a unique view.

Shamroom's images have been displayed at major American museums, including

the Whitney and the Museum of Modern Art. His recent project in book, Purple Town, used photos

to examine the American cities and towns that are most evenly divided politically.

We spoke to Shamroom for our series Art in Action, exploring the intersection of art and democracy and for our ongoing coverage of arts and culture, canvas.

I'm not trained as a social scientist or a political scientist. I'm just a guy with a camera.

The country is extremely polarized now, maybe more so than I've ever seen it in my lifetime.

2020 just seemed like a turning point in terms of how we relate to each other.

Many very smart people are writing and talking about polarization in the current

political situation, but I'm just a real believer in kind of getting out there myself.

A purple Town is a community that specifically for this project was either an exact tie or a very close or virtual tie in the 2020 US presidential election.

I'm really troubled by the notion that the country is so divided,

not just politically, but in terms of how we feel about each other and the notion that 30 or 40 percent of the people in this country have beliefs and values that are very different than mine. That's okay, but what's going on now

is that we're just not accepting each other's humanity. Photography and art is

really a coping mechanism for me. It's just a way for me to feel like I'm doing something to try and

understand what's going on in the world and maybe share it with other people.

I would look for places where people were gathering, whether it was an outdoor cafe or eating establishment or

football games. If you're in a small community that's split down the

middle, there's a good chance that your kids go to school

together, you may work together, you may go to church together or shop in the same

stores, and so I really wanted to see how that played out to see if there really is a difference that is visible and noticeable. I wasn't going into

...