New York Public Library shows unusual set of photographs

The New York Public Library exhibited images of Bush administration officials doctored to make them look like police mug shots.

Photo: New York Public Library shows unusual set of photographs

The half dozen pictures were created by two Brooklyn artists, Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese, as part of a privately financed exhibit called "Line Up" in the main library building on Fifth Avenue.

Also in the mug shot gallery are images of Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Bush adviser Karl Rove, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

The dates on each image match days when each official spoke about Iraq in ways the artists consider criminal - with sound clips of them speaking, along with a camera flash going off and a prison door closing.

Some have criticized the library for displaying political satire in an institution that receives public funding.

The library issued a statement saying the exhibition "has no political agenda."

The photographs are part of a larger exhibit called "Multiple Interpretations: Contemporary Prints in Portfolio at the New York Public Library," which will be on display through Jan. 27.

The library has a long tradition of collecting political satire and caricature, library spokesman Herb Shaer said Friday.

"It's the mission of the library to document what's happening in the culture, and this is an artist's response to what's happening to the world around them," he said.