The working thesis of the project is that these images from 1839-1876
demonstrate that race in this period (spanning approximately forty years;
before, during, and after the Civil War) was a much more fluid and ambiguous
concept than we may now assume. The project’s aim would be in part
to discern and address how these images from the past dislocate our own
present presumptions about the representation of race. Of course, some
images may seem only to confirm our expectations of that era’s depictions.
This tension is what the Mirror of Race intends to explore.
But beyond the historical dimension,the project hopes to hold up these
images as a mirror to our present, to confront our understanding of the
meaning of race today. Daguerreotypes, the earliest American photographs,
are, in strict point of fact, mirrors. Each one is a unique image produced
on a reflective, silver-coated copper plate. As such, the daguerreotype
serves as the “image” for all the images presented in the Mirror
of Race project. In such photographs, we see ourselves in two senses: we
see our ancestors and so our past, but we also see our own reflections
on the same surface. Seeing, then, is a central theme to the idea of the
project, for seeing underlies so much of the representation of race as
grounded in appearance and seeing is what we do when we reflect in — and
on — the mirror.
It is precisely because of the dislocation of time that the images collected
in the Mirror of Race” may serve as an opportunity to reflect on
what race means in America today — and what it can, should, and should
not mean in the future. The hope underlying the elements of the Mirror
of Race project is that these photographs from a century and a half in
the past can instigate the kind of productive conversation, both academic
and public, about race that often seems so hard to promote.
The Mirror of Race project envisions a range of venues for the display
and discussion of the images such as this website, lecture/performances,
teaching materials and other interdisiplinary multi-media undertakings.
Please visit often to get updates on these developments
The multi-faceted nature of the Mirror of Race project offers a unique
opportunity to engage audiences, both on-line and at the lecture-performances,
in a fresh discussion of race in America. Audiences will be encouraged
to relate their own stories and preconceptions about race to the images
and the stories being told. Because the lecture-performances will be coordinated
with this web site that includes images, commentary and essays, as well
as venues for viewers to offer feedback, the conversation will be an ongoing
one. Schools and colleges that engage the lecture-performance will have,
in the on-line exhibition and website, a tool for continuing research and
classroom discussion.
