State Capitol, Montpelier, Vermont, July 2002
An air of honor and foundation resonates from this corner of the Vermont State Capitol Building. Red fabrics define the composition of this photograph. As the heavy velvet of the couch below the cabinet anchors the lighter fabrics of the flags inside, a visual metaphor is created for what the flags once represented and the ideologies that grounded them. Davis is most well known for his curatorial accomplishments in photography, but his personal content is notable for its striking compositions and architectural orientation. As seen here, Davis captures the character of the building in juxtaposing weights of fabric and fixture within/across the architecture of the wall itself.
Many of the flags displayed in this cabinet and others like it in the Capitol Building are Civil War-era flags representing various Vermontian brigades. The cabinet on the easterly end of the vestibule (pictured right, above) contained the flags of the other Vermont Infantry Regiments not included in the Vermont Brigade Guidon, as well as those of the Sharpshooters and Light Artillery Batteries. In 2016, the entire Vermont Civil War Flag Collection was published online at DigitalVermont.org (information courtesy of vermontcivilwar.org).