After seeing the movie “Harriet” recently, I went to pickup a photo that had been in a local exhibit. The irony of the timing is that the movie had portrayed the bravery of Harriet Tubman during the time of slavery in this country, when people with a different skin color were not considered human and the only value they had was to serve the white man. Even though I had dropped off the photo in that exhibit a few weeks before, I was startled when I looked at it to pick it up (which also surprised me).
I had taken the photo in Sydney, Canada of an African-American child (mannekin) in an old buggy which looked like it could have been manufactured around the time of the Civil War. I was attracted to the uniqueness of the subject matter, the vintage buggy, the colors, and the intriguing-looking child. I had wondered what the story was of the child and the buggy. I titled the photo “Supplication” and was struck by the fragment in time this little scene spoke to.
The movie “Harriet” filled in some gaps. I obviously don’t know the specific circumstance of the child who was a model here, but the movie gave context to the life this child probably lived. And gave me pause, which I still hold.