I remember the only time in grade school that our whole class was taken to the Audio-Visual room. The seriousness of the room change made me nervous. The space had been darkened by long brown curtains which held back most of the daylight. Sister Mary Agnella turned on the projector, sputtering a countdown on the screen before the movie began.

A cartoon turtle appeared and asked us to sing along. The tune was pretty catchy. The movie was made by our federal government and told us what we should do in case we were walking or riding our bikes home from school during a nuclear blast. Mr. Turtle just tucked himself in his shell. Duck and cover was all we had to do, the turtle reassured us, because shattering glass was the most dangerous enemy we would face.

For a long time even through high school I believed most information on TV, especially if the President came on and told us so. I trusted Len O'Connor, Chet and David, President Eisenhower, and, especially, President Kennedy because he was a Democrat like my mom and dad.

Then he was assassinated.

David Hutchcraft, a very funny friend who sat behind me in journalism class, committed suicide inhaling carbon monoxide in his garage when he got his draft notice for Vietnam. The National Guard, our own guys, killed some college students who were protesting the war. People began to say that the whole war wasn't really to free the Vietnamese people but to get their oil.

That war changed my world. Mr. Turtle could go into his shell and pretend that glass was the enemy. But I didn't buy it anymore. Trading blind trust for fear, most families in my neighborhood stopped leaving the doors open at night and locked up. Mr. Larson down the street bought another gun.

In November 2002 before the second war with Iraq began, the Department of Homeland Security reassured Americans, asking us to use duct tape to secure our windows in the event of a chemical or biological attack. We were told to prepare our basements with bottled water and canned food. More neighbors bought guns.

I asked my Advanced Photography students at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools to struggle and glean the believable amidst the barrage. My students understood the need to observe the more complex issues of the war, issues of security, secrecy, and trust. They examined, uncovered, and/or questioned the confusing, and sometimes contrary, rhetoric and information presented by large institutions, like governments and media.

The art here is the result. Each photograph is a self-portrait. This exhibition itself is called "duct & cover(t)."

   - Liese A Ricketts