![]() “What is the role of art and culture for justice? What is the role of representation in our representational democracy?”īoth Harvard professors underscored the influence of the Civil War, the first conflict to be widely captured on camera. Ideas were surfaced that that still resonate more than a century and a half on, offered Lewis, who founded the Vision & Justice civic initiative and has her own catalog of scholarship on Douglass’ theory of image-making. “Instead, they heard, ‘Go to a studio and get your daguerreotype taken.’” The audience had thought Douglass would talk about abolition or strategies for defeating the South. That speech, delivered in Boston amid the first months of the Civil War, wasn’t what anybody expected, Gates explained on opening night. What was once the exclusive luxury of the rich and great is now within reach of all.” “Men of all conditions may see themselves as others see them. “Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, photographs, and electrotypes, good and bad, now adorn or disfigure all our dwellings,” Douglass says in the film. The film’s lead actor quotes from several of Douglass’ famous speeches, including 1861’s “Lecture on Pictures,” his earliest articulation of photography’s capacity to counter racist stereotypes. In an opening night conversation, Julien noted the film was influenced by Gates’ work on Douglass, including his essay for the 2015 book “Picturing Frederick Douglass.” Ball, a Black photographer with one of the most bustling studios in 19th-century America. It evokes the busy walls of a 19th-century salon, with actors recreating scenes from Douglass’ life - including his 1867 portrait session with J.P. The 28-minute work, which takes its title from Douglass’ 1894 speech against lynching, is presented on five screens, each running separate but linked video. “Lessons of the Hour” (2019) anchors the show. and Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, who curated the exhibit “I Am Seen… Therefore, I Am.” 24.Īrtist Isaac Julien (from left) with Professors Henry Louis Gates Jr. “I Am Seen… Therefore, I Am,” co-curated by Gates and Lewis, explores Douglass’ embrace of what was then an emerging art. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities and associate professor of African and African American studies. He quickly proposed partnering with colleague Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, the John L. “I just didn’t have any experience with curating. “When I got the email, I thought, ‘Wow, this is something I have the knowledge to do,’” Gates recalled. Museum leadership wanted to pair “Lessons of the Hour,” a film installation by the British artist Isaac Julien, with a selection of portraits featuring Douglass, the most photographed American in the 19th century. Inviting Gates to curate an exhibition marking the 180th anniversary of Douglass’ first visit to Hartford was a no-brainer for the Wadsworth Atheneum. “I wrote one essay that I really value about Frederick Douglass’ theory of photography and the role of representation in the apparatus of race,” said the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. is an expert on all things Frederick Douglass, having written about the great orator and abolitionist for some four decades. HARTFORD, Connecticut - Henry Louis Gates Jr.
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