Sharana Byrum
Metropolitan State University
Abstract
A photo essay, mostly in black and white, about the visual aspects of American nostalgia, racism and coloniality. As a Black woman living in upstate New York , I was struck by the images and icons of the racial history of this country. This came in the form of lawn ornaments, statues and images of “noble Indians” at restaurants and highway signs, as well as remakes of cookie jars and kitchen utensils straight out of slave iconography, including images of “mammy”, “uncle Tom”, and “picaninny”(hapless child with watermelon) among others. These images are alive and well and being sold and/or displayed in the twenty first century countryside/suburbia. In an attempt to capture this reality, I photographed these items, sometimes without permission, knowing that most of the owners were most likely either “unintentional” or overt racists, and would not like a Black woman documenting this fact, had I been caught. A major part of my focus was on lawn jockeys, usually placed near front doors, which included an interesting racial spectrum of examples. In presenting this series of photographs, I reflect on the persistence and meaning of racial imagery in contemporary American public space, as well as the politics of re-representing this in a photo essay. I also try to encourage discussion of what this can tell us about racial issues in society today.