This solo exhibition chronicles politics in the United States from the 2016 presidential election, four years of the Trump administration, the turmoil of 2020 and concludes with the insurrection and its aftermath at the U.S, Capitol in January 2021. Butow writes, "We lived through history minute by minute, so much so that the gravitas of what transpired is apparent only when one steps back and sees how the whole saga unfolded."

"As revisionists seek to trivialize or downplay these events, it's critical to maintain a record of just how close the presidency of Donald Trump brought U.S. democracy to the brink of disfunction.​" While some of the photographs were taken on assignment, or published right away in places like The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, TIME and Paris Match, Butow says, "I was most interested in making pictures that would be different from daily news coverage and that would be particularly compelling to viewers decades from now."

Read the full press release here.

Two different talks will take place during Butow's visit to RIT, both free and open to the public:

Charles Arnold Lecture Series Presents David Butow
Thursday, February 3, 6:00 PM | RIT Campus

Wegmans Theater @ MAGIC, RIT Campus, 300 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY, 14623.
In person & Zoom/Webinar Option Click Here to Register (for webinar option)
Butow will share an overview of his long career in photojournalism. A facemask is required.
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BRINK: David Butow in Conversation
Friday, February 4, 6:00 PM | Downtown Rochester

RIT City Art Space, 280 East Main Street, Downtown Rochester, NY, 14604
Free and open to the public | in-person only, facemasks required
RIT Photojournalism Assistant Professor Jenn Poggi, a former White House photo editor, will lead a conversation with David Butow about his latest project and book, BRINK. A facemask is required.

David Butow is a freelance photojournalist whose projects and assignments have taken him to over two dozen countries including Afghanistan, Burma, Iraq, Peru, Yemen and Zimbabwe. Despite decades of work covering the results of public policy, Butow had never photographed in the Capitol or the White House. In 2017, as Donald Trump took office, Butow felt compelled to move from California to Washington, D.C., to document the events up close.

Butow's book BRINK, published by Rome-based Punctum Press, includes 104 photographs over 152 pages with text by Mark McKinnon and Cecilia Emma Sottilotta. It was recently reviewed by the Washington Post. ​

The exhibition is organized by Jenn Poggi and sponsored by the RIT School of Photographic Arts and Sciences and its Charles Arnold Lecture Series.