Black life, Black joy immortalized in historic Charlottesville photo portraits [View all]

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/images-of-black-life-black-joy-are-immortalized-in-historic-charlottesville-portraits





..."The existing historical records about Martin, who was born enslaved in 1826 at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, remember him in a patronizing way: as a faithful servant, emphasizing his work as a janitor and bell ringer at the University of Virginia.

When photos were taken of Martin, he was positioned near a bell or wearing an apron.

But when Martin commissioned two photographs for himself, he wanted to be portrayed as a president would. In one of the images now on display in the “Holsinger Studio Portrait Project: Visions of Progress” exhibit at the university, Martin’s wearing a black suit, with no signs of the university or his job in the frame. He later gave copies of the image to white alums.

“It’s a way of saying, ‘This is who I am,’” said John Edwin Mason, chief curator of the exhibit. The photo shows “him with tremendous dignity and pride in the same way that you would show a wealthy, powerful white man.”
"It is a remarkable act of self representation,” he added.
....
"The university has not always been a good neighbor to the African American community,” said Edwin Mason. “We’ve learned a lot about Charlottesville, its history and the hard side of history. We’ve learned about oppression. We have not learned about Black life, Black joy, Black family, Black churches, Black schools, Black politics, Black style. All of those things have been in the background. And through these portraits, we’re bringing them into the foreground.”...(more)