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Dialogues@RU is published annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume One
Spring 2002
Without
Sanctuary:
Lynching Photographs And Museums As Their Sanctuary -
Page 3
by Soo Hee Kwon
As these images are viewed in public exhibitions, a knowledge is created about society that is expressed through the reactions of the viewers. The disgust and sadness that arises from the sight of lynching photographs displays society's moral outrage toward an event that occurred once too often. Rosler states that, "documentary photography has come to represent the social conscience of liberal sensibility presented in visual imagery" (303). If these photographs were taken as documentary photographs, they would represent an oppressive sensibility of those celebrating lyching. The lynching photographs, used as documentary, represent the social conscience of the past and allows for expression of the social conscience today. Many lynching images show a background with crowds of people that illustrate their "social conscience". One such image is a photograph labeled "Three Negroes lynched at Duluth, Minnesota for rape. Oct, 1919 by M.P.S.". This photograph is of three men hung from a pole, surrounded by onlookers, including children, pushing their way to get into the picture. Every eye in the crowd is directed toward the camera as they all stand behind the bodies as if they were some sorts of artwork to be displayed and taken pride of. The joyful smiles of the audience make one wonder if they even have a conscience but that is exactly what the image is showing; a society's mind-set in the past as one of non-chalance and celebration towards lynching.
The reaction of those viewing the photograph in museums today is an exposure of the new "social conscience". This is one of morality and an ideology that rejects the attitudes of the past and sees the images of lynching and the overwhelming crowds with dismay. Thomas explains this exposure of new social conscience as a result of the exhibitions, through a "shift [in] the privilege of witness from the mindlessly violent who were in historic attendance to those attempting to make peace today" (6). The "privilege of witness" has simply shifted from one social conscience to another and the setup of the exhibitions allowed society to express the new ideology. Rosler questions this privilege when she asks, "At what elevated vantage point must we stand to regard society as having 'frailties' and 'imperfections'? High enough to see it as…a commodity to be 'experienced'?" (321). Rosler, however, overlooks the sensibility of the "victims" in new documentary, whereas she views it not as "evidencing a 'sympathy' for the 'real world'…" but instead as a "rage masquerading as varyingly invested snoop sociology" (321). The way that Rosler perceives documentary makes it difficult for documentary to be of any use-sympathy is far closer to an attempt at peace than is rage. Her views diverge the shift Thomas sees, making the witness an aggression rather than a privilege. The privilege of witnessing these images should be appreciated and taken advantage of, as it is the ability to look at them in a new light because of their availability, not looked down upon.
The transformation of these photographs from private pictures in family albums and frames to replications in a coffee table book to public displays of original historical documents has resulted in multiplying meanings. Berger argues that, "the meaning of the original work no longer lies in what it uniquely says but in what it uniquely is" (21). This is the case with lynching photographs, where the original photograph is the history as well as tells a history. The use of these photographs in the past is the extreme opposite of how they are used in the recent exhibitions. These snapshots were put into family albums and passed around as postcards before being collected and bound into a book by Allen called "Without Sanctuary". Since these photographs are not abstract artistic images, their replication does not necessarily change meanings but removes their authenticity. The exhibition of the lynching photographs in museums helped change their meaning and kept their authenticity by displaying original images with their brownish-yellowing color, and crinkled edges, and their sense of coming directly from the time of lynching. An ambiance of morbid barbarity is not as strong in a book as it is seeing the very original postcard. Seeing the authentic version gives a more real feeling, that this truly was a person's mind-set at one time and this is the ink that wrote this man's view on the event (one man even referred the lynching to a friendly "barbecue"). The fact that they are original photographs from a century ago and the way they are presented in a museum, with no additional visual effects, their overall effect is one that is more dramatic than if they were seen flipping through a book in a library or book store.
What the museum does is not only make one aware of the atrocities but makes this history a necessity. As Berger notes of paintings, "it is authentic and therefore it is beautiful" (21). With lynching photography, Berger's idea of authenticity makes the images important. The original state of the photographs gives a more realistic aura. They are so real that their significance is much greater than that of a mere photocopy. A real lynching photo-postcard's survival makes it even more important that it has remained throughout the years, through the mail, wrinkles and creases, and being tossed into drawers. It is not the photographs alone that create this enthusiasm for knowledge; the museum atmosphere contributes to the importance of this history. Being considered an educational facility, historical museums (such as The New York Historical Society) have an inherent emphasis on the need for a certain knowledge to be known. Berger states that a replication of a painting diversifies its meaning by making the painting accessible to many homes and this becomes "their talking point" where the artwork's meaning from the institution is lent to the publics meaning and then multiplied through each home's own interpretation (20). The museums' motives in exhibiting the lynching photographs have the same effect. In encouraging public dialogue through public forums after the exhibit, the museums created their own talking point. Some view the meaning as an important history of America that should never be forgotten, others as a disgrace on the white population, of race relations, and some even extend the meaning even further to a contempt for right-wing ideology of a local government (The Message of the Lynching Exhibit, 39). The authenticity of the images make them more important and fascinating but their meanings are all fragmented due to their exposure and presentation as documentary photography.