To many, the United States is sliding into madness and autocracy. Fueled by a cult of personality to a grifter and a demagogue, half the country cheers the spreading authoritarianism while the other half looks on in disbelief.

But some are beginning to push back. RESIST is an ongoing series that documents this growing backlash. These photographs highlight individual and collective acts of resistance by ordinary people peacefully protesting the creeping authoritarianism overtaking their country. Although the current political and cultural situation seems bleak, these acts of defiance can have a profound effect on our collective future. After all, a single grain of sand may be insignificant. But a million grains of sand can grind the gears of tyranny to a halt.

RESIST is thus a celebration of resistance and a call to action. It asks viewers to ponder the question “What are you willing to do or risk to resist?”

Prescott Moore Lassman has been pursuing photography seriously since college, when hetook a summer school class with acclaimed street photographer Thomas Roma. Since then, he’s studied at the International Center for Photography and Photoworks at Glen Echo with many wonderful teachers, including Karen Keating, Patricia Voulgaris, and the late Tico Herrera.

Lassman has a masters degree in philosophy and wrote his thesis on Jungian symbolism and psychology, which he incorporates into his photographic practice. Indeed, he views his photographic approach as a cross between a sporting event and a psychological expedition, always searching for those Jungian moments of synchronicity that have a message to communicate.

Lassman’s work has been exhibited and published widely nationally and internationally. In addition, his work is included in the permanent collections of the DC Art Bank, the DC City Hall Art Collection, and the DC Library’s People’s Archive.

I am a lens-based artist living in Washington, D.C. working in the areas of documentary, portrait, travel, and “freestyle” photography. Using an intuitive approach, I search for images that resonate, for moments of synchronicity in everyday life. My work focuses on those odd juxtapositions of elements that are connected not so much by logic or reason but rather by a deeper intrinsic meaning. Because this approach relies on unconscious triggers, my photographs often are richly symbolic, though their meaning is not immediately clear (at least not to me). For me, this is the essence of photography: capturing an image that resonates and then, over the course of months or years, figuring out why.

A Conversation with Prescott Lassman

Saturday, January 10, 2026, 1 pm

During our monthly “Second Saturday” program, Hillyer will host a conversation with Prescott Lassman and Shedrick Pelt, facilitated by Gia Harewood. The discussion will center on themes related to Lassman’s exhibition titled RESIST–photographs of individual and collective acts of resistance by ordinary people who are peacefully protesting against the spread of authoritarianism throughout the country.

Free to the public. Reservations are not required ($10 donation is suggested)