The Mahøgånëë Xperīence

Though I could focus my analysis on the young woman's madras headwrap or pelerine, since I more often focus on the dress of enslaved people in archival photos. What captivates my attention the most is her intense gaze, searing with a mixture of anger and disgust. In the early days of photographic technology, it was not unusual for enslavers to commission photos that included enslaved people under the pretense of affective bonds. There are innumerable examples of photographs of enslaved women posed alongside or holding their white charges. However, this daguerreotype in particular lays bare the intimate violence that slavery, particularly domestic slavery, depended on.