Jenna Garrett: Teeth of the Wolf

Jenna Garrett is the Spectrum Imaging Award winner for FORMAT25.

At 11:16 pm on January 6, 2021, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio posted a video of himself standing in  front of the United States Capitol. It was taken days before his group—along with hundreds of other  dissidents—violently stormed the building to halt the ratification of the presidential election. Tarrio’s  face is shrouded by a gruesome mask, a cape flowing behind him. And I couldn’t stop thinking I’d  seen such a mask before—in a relatively unknown 19th- century photo taken near my hometown. 

The mask—black and horned—belonged to the Bald Knobbers, a vigilante group that sprung up in  the Ozark Mountains in the aftermath of the Civil War. They were everyday citizens—shop owners,  ministers, sheriffs—who swore to protect their community from lawlessness. In just five years, their  numbers swelled from 13 to an estimated 500. By the time they disbanded, 17 people were killed, plus  

countless reports of floggings, arson, jail escapes, and lynchings. The Bald Knobbers became the ter ror they swore to defeat. 

My project Teeth of the Wolf (2019-present) interrogates the story of these men. It’s a history obfuscated  by secrecy and whitewashed through decades of mythology and commercialization. Drawing from  the few remaining documents and photo archives, I reimagine the violence of the past and recontex tualize its incarnation in the present. 

A vigilante is broadly defined as “a self-appointed doer of justice.” The Bald Knobbers are an ob scure part of a sweeping American legacy, one that uses intimidation and violence to maintain power  perceived to be under threat. Today, this spirit manifests as rogue border militias, local paramilitary  groups, and organizations like the Proud Boys. They are mostly white men, driven by secrecy, griev ance, and a belief they have the right to step in as the true authority when the government fails them. 

Teeth of the Wolf drags these machinations into the light, examining it not as an anomaly, but a cyclical  part of my nation’s history. The work includes archival imagery, locations and people connected with  significant events, and contemporary depictions in local culture. The goal is to extend the Bald Knob bers’ legacy beyond its origins, revealing how their tactics haven’t disappeared, but merely mutated. 

Participant

Jenna Garrett