To make their own way in the world : the enduring legacy of the Zealy daguerreotypes / edited by Ilisa Barbash, Molly Rogers, Deborah Willis ; with a foreword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Barbash, Ilisa, 1959- editor, contributor.

Rogers, Molly, 1967- editor, contributor.

Willis, Deborah, 1948- editor, contributor.

Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., writer of foreword.

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, host institution.

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, host institution.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Photography--Social aspects--United States--History--19th century--Congresses.

Photography.

Photography in ethnology--History--19th century--Congresses.

Photography in ethnology.

Racism in anthropology--United States--History--19th century--Congresses.

Racism in anthropology.

Monogenism and polygenism--Congresses.

Monogenism and polygenism.

African Americans--Southern States--Social conditions--19th century--Congresses.

African Americans.

African Americans--Social conditions.

Photography--Social aspects.

Southern States.

United States.

Genre:

catalogs (documents)

Catalogs.

Conference papers and proceedings.

History.

Physical Description:

485 pages : illustrations (some color), facsimiles, genealogical table, portraits (some color) ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Peabody Museum Press ; New York, NY : Aperture, 2020.

Summary:

"To Make Their Own Way in the World is a profound consideration of some of the most challenging images in the early history of photography. The fifteen daguerreotypes-made in 1850 by photographer Joseph T. Zealy portray Alfred, Delia, Drana, Fassena, Jack, Jem, and Renty, men and women of African descent who were enslaved in South Carolina. Since 1976, when the daguerreotypes were rediscovered at Harvard University's Peabody Museum, the photographs have been the subject of intense and widespread study. To Make Their Own Way in the World features essays by prominent scholars who explore topics ranging from the photographs' historical context and the "science" of race to the ways in which photography created a visual narrative of slavery and its effects. Multidisciplinary, deeply collaborative, and with more than two hundred illustrations, including new photography by contemporary artist Carrie Mae Weems, this book frames the Zealy daguerreotypes as works of urgent engagement"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Foreword / Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Preface / Jane Pickering

Introduction / Molly Rogers

Gallery: The Zealy daguerreotypes

Part I. Photographic subjects. This intricate question: the "American School" of ethnology and the Zealy daguerreotypes / by Molly Rogers

The life and times of Alfred, Delia, Drana, Fassena, Jack, Jem, and Renty / Gregg Hecimovich

History in the face of slavery: A family portrait / Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham

Portraits of endurance: Enslaved people and vernacular photography in the Antebellum South / Matthew Fox-Amato

Part II. Photographic practice. The curious art and science of the daguerreotype / John Wood

Business as usual? Scientific operations in the early photographic studio / Tanya Sheehan

Mr. Agassiz's "photographic saloon" / Christopher Irmscher

Part III. Ideas and histories. Of scientific racists and Black abolitionists. The forgotten debate over slavery and race / Manisha Sinha

"Nowhere else" : South Carolina's role in a continuing tragedy / Harlan Greene

"Not suitable for public notice" ; Agassiz's evidence / John Stauffer

The insistent reveal: Louis Agassiz, Joseph T. Zealy, Carrie Mae Weems, and the politics of undress in the photography of racial science / Sarah Elizabeth Lewis

Part IV. Memory and projection. Gallery: While sitting upon the ruins of your remains, I pondered the course of history / Carrie Mae Weems

In conversation with Carrie Mae Weems / Deborah Willis

Exposing latent images: Daguerreotypes in the museum and beyond / Ilisa Barbash

Teaching, feeling: Daguerreotype reflections / Robin Bernstein with Keziah Clarke, Jonathan Karp, Eliza Blair Mantz, Reggie St. Louis, William Henry Pruitt III, and Ian Askew.

Notes:

Essays and photographs from two workshops organized by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and held at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study to discuss the fifteen daguerreotypes by Joseph T. Zealy discovered at the museum in 1976.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 449-464) and index.

Contains:

Zealy, Joseph T., 1812-1893. Photographs. Selections.

ISBN:

1597114782

9781597114783

OCLC:

1150837047