Under Exposed: Photography and Afro-American History

-Slavery cut back on almost all forms of African American aesthetic creation besides
song
-the beauty revealed to him was the soul beauty of a race which his larger
audience despised and he could not articulate the message to another people. WEB Dubois
relationship to the collective experience of their race
With the invention of daguerreotype, in an era where the pursuit of black freedom
was a major concern also a period of vibrant artistic expression about the anti-slave
cause
Abolitionist themes
1950s issue of slavery had moved to the center of national attention.
JP Ball, did freedom movements like Harriet Tubmans influence his work?
Uncle Toms cabin, defended the abolitionist cause but also popularized attitudes
about black inferiority
They possessed the ability to utilize the camera to forge creative, affirmative
images of their people 269
247 professional Afro-American photographers
James van der zee photographed street scenes, parades, political rallies, and
whatever mightve been transpiring in their immediate world
Wanted to expose and condemn the evolving visual mythology of racism
We younger negro artists who create now intend to express our individual darkskinned selves without fear or shame-Langston hughes 271
Photographers displaying terrible rural life after 1929. Showed poverty Dignity
despite poverty
Maturing complex community of oppressed people in relentless pursuit of human,
collective existence.
Redefined the ideologically tainted imagery of their people
Social sensitivity. End their socially imposed invisibility

The photographs of affluent young African American men and women challenged
the scientific "evidence" and popular racist caricatures of the day that ridiculed and
sought to diminish African American social and economic success
Further, the wide range of hair styles and skin tones represented in the photographs
demonstrated that the so-called "Negro type" was in fact a diverse group of distinct
individuals.

Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn., 1900 - morning prayers

-Well Dressed students sitting orderly
-High Ceilings
-Pillars
-Devloping their own institutions
-Educated and Smart
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?sp=1&co=anedub&st=slideshow#
Only negro store of its kind in the US, at 2933, Chicago, Ill
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/anedub/item/2001705866/resource/#
-Store owner leaning on his building, hand propped on his establishment signifying that he owns this building
-Laying claim to public space, right to public space, on display for the whole communiy
-only negro store of its kind- maybe not sticking with the norms of his race, going against cultural self-containment
-Working for themselves, getting paid, development of black middle class