APOCALYPTIC GUIDESTONES

The Georgia Guidestones stood in Elberton, GA, from March 1980 until July 2022, when a bomb destroyed the monument. A man using the alias R.C. Christian funded them in 1979 for a post-apocalyptic world. The commandments on the tablets made them controversial, with statements such as “Maintain Humanity Under 500,000,000” and talk of a “world court,” which led people to condemn the monument from day one.

It also had some good points as well; “Avoid Petty Laws and Useless Officials” and “Be Not A Cancer On The Earth - Leave Room For Nature” are valid points that need to be heard, especially nowadays. To me, the monument was viewed too many times through the eyes of the modern day, and you can’t do that with a monument like this. It must be viewed through the eyes of someone living during this period, the late 70s/early 80s Cold War era; people had the fear of a nuclear war every day, and that’s how I saw this monument. A guide for a post-nuclear world and not, as some suggest, a “New World Order” guidestone.

This monument was always fascinating, and I was happy to have gotten to see it before its destruction. With this shot, I wanted to make their scale imposing in the photo with a long exposure to blur the clouds, making them stand out even more. One quote that always makes me think of the Guidestones is “Art should provoke, disturb, arouse our emotions in directions we may not anticipate and may not even wish.” By Joyce Carol Oates

-Burke