Samuel J Miller - Fredrick Douglas 1847-52
Fredrick Douglas ( 1818-1895)
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Fredrick Douglas was an escaped slave who became a prominent activist , author and public speaker . He became a prominent leader in the abolishment movement with flight to end slavery worldwide . A daguerreotype was a photograph taken by an early photographic process employing an iodine sensitized silver plate and mercury vapour . Fredrick Douglas used a daguerreotype to take images of himself because photography was a greta tool for someone trying to re write predijuce in the United States . I find this image really interesting because fredrick Douglas is being presented as someone powerful . I think this because when you go to a portrait gallery or when your online and you see all the photos of important men and woman from the past hey are often in this same stance with there photo surrounded by a gold frame and I think that by Douglas portraying himself like this it shows that he is trying to show that he also has power and is important ,
Omar victor Diop is a self taught Senegalise photographer who's conceptually rich work is in demand around the world , he lives and works in Dakar. Diaspora means the dispersion or spread of any people from their original homeland . I think Diop wanted to create a self portrait of himself disguised as Fredrick Douglas to show that the issues Douglas fought for are still very much a problem today . What I find interesting about this photo is that it is in colour and the colours Diop decided to use and bright and dark greens . I find this interesting because the original photo was taken in black and white and I think it shows that in a world of colour people still cant accept race . This picture is circular because when the original photo was taken they would be made onto oval disks in order to be hung in a gold frame so this photo still very much reflects the original .
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