Set in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, this project combines performative photographs in close dialogue with a historical archive, resurrecting the period of the Great Depression when the Victorian era Crescent Hotel was turned into a fake cancer curing hospital by “Dr.” Norman Baker, an egomaniacal charlatan exploiting the terminally ill and economically desperate.
Inspired by superstition, the story of a trickster that is part truth and part myth, and a hotel that was once the illusion of a hospital, “The Naked Truth” explores the fine line between reality and illusion that can be used to marvel or exploit. It aims to challenge our faith in manufactured saviors and the evidence we employ to makes sense of the world. By giving a glimpse into this small corner of America’s past, we unveil a world that exposes the wonder, trauma and eccentric realities reverberating across America today.