Anthony Karen’s photographs of the Klu Klux Klan take the viewer behind the scenes of the secret society steeped in division, brotherhood and race; an inordinate blush on America’s lilywhite lure to be all equal under God.

The viewer gains some insight into the cultural, ideological and socioeconomic lot of people linked by the Klan – shaped by their environment, family, fate and history.

Karen tells FotoEvidence: “I think a lot of the credibility I’ve earned also stems from my basic philosophy that you need to give some of yourself in order to receive anything back. I spend time with people, I listen to what they have to say, and I treat each person as an individual. I don’t have to believe what they believe, but whenever I’m in someone’s space, I feel I’m obliged to observe without judgment.That’s not to say I wouldn’t intervene if I felt a situation called for it, but I choose to observe moment to moment and simply take in what I see and experience without presumption or pretext.”

He is the skilled photojournalist, inviting you in with an empathetic eye for the truth, encouraging the human compulsion to know more:

“Whenever you’re granted access into a person’s intimate space, you’re establishing a relationship based on trust. In my opinion, trust is trust. That doesn’t suggest I become complacent with my situation to the point of exploitation, nor does it mean I’m selectively disregarding certain moments to depict something that is not. I do admit I try to offer a balanced perspective as to my experiences within marginalized organizations. … [T]o consciously distance myself will in effect (or could) create bias.”