I chose a photo from the archive of David Goldblatt, a South African photographer who documented the Apartheid era there.
The photo is from 1972 in Soweto and has the caption Drum majorette, Cup Final, Orlando Stadium, Soweto
This picture caught my eye because of the words "life... is great" stenciled on the convertible, and the attack dog next to the car. The context of this being Soweto (where Nelson Mandela was from) during Apartheid gave the photo more specific weight. Someone is messaging life is great to a group of people during a time when life is anything but great, and enforcing it with an attack dog.
This image feels very now, in the US, with the midterms weeks away. The government is desperately trying to convince people "life is great," look the other way, and for those who won't, there's an attack dog system to keep you in place. It feels like the perfect convergence of authoritarianism and capitalism working together. A carrot and a stick.