Chatting the Pictures: The Feast of the Arms Industry

This photo was taken by Nikita Teryoshin. It shows a VIP reception at a Swedish booth at an arms fair in Kielce, Poland, in 2016. Teryoshin spent eight years traveling to defense shows worldwide, capturing the surreal ways weapons are bought and sold. This photo is featured in his newly published photobook, “Nothing Personal – The Back Office of War.”

In the video, we break down the satire of this and other photos by Teryoshin and how the lampooning is even weightier because these arms expos evade public radar. We focus on the juxtaposition of firepower and finger food, the odd melding of man and machine, the surreal fetishizing of weaponry, and how these lavish displays reveal the military-industrial complex’s voracious hunger for power and profitability.

You can find all the Chatting the Pictures replays here.