In False Prophet, I explore the complex interplay between personal history, inherited belief systems, and the landscapes that shape identity. The work is a visual meditation on the contradictions of faith, familial bonds, and the environment of our ancestral farm—a site imbued with both intimacy and unease. Through photographs of myself and my family, local landscapes, and religious iconography, I confront the tensions between devotion and skepticism, tradition and disillusionment.

This project continues the thematic exploration begun in Minor Prophet, expanding on its inquiry into faith and personal history. Where Minor Prophet introduced questions of religiosity and its dissonance with contemporary anxieties, False Prophet deepens that investigation, shifting the focus inward to examine the dynamics of familial and spiritual inheritance. The ancestral farm, central to both works, serves as a grounding yet fraught setting—a space where the weight of belief and the fractures it creates are brought to the surface.

The images reflect a reluctant observance of inherited rituals, casting a critical eye on the structures of belief that both unify and unsettle. Religious symbols, juxtaposed against the farm’s enduring geography, suggest the burden of spiritual expectations and the lingering unease of doubt. These photographs do not seek resolution; instead, they dwell in ambiguity, inviting viewers to question the roles of faith and legacy in shaping personal and collective identity.

Through this continuation, False Prophet expands the visual and conceptual language of its predecessor, unearthing the psychological landscapes of inherited ideologies and challenging the viewer to consider the fragile architecture of faith. It is a study in dissonance—a visual inquiry into the coexistence of reverence and critique, belief and doubt, within the same soul.

False Prophet

Micah McCoy, 2025