Artwork / Archives / Apple Pie / I and Cosmonaut Neil Armstrong (Russian-American, Alex)

$2700

I asked each of the participants in Apple Pie to write something about what it means to be an American. This is Alex’s response.

When I met with Alex to photograph and interview him for Apple Pie, I already knew that I wanted to combine his likeness with Neil Armstrong’s. Much like with this portrait, I’d been searching for a first or second generation American with a particular heritage who’d be happy to embody a specific American icon as a way of making social commentary—in this case highlighting the way that competition between the US and the USSR fueled the race to the moon.