JTF (just the facts): A total of 13 black-and-white photographs, framed in black and matted, and hung against light blue walls in a single room gallery in the midst of the permanent collection display on the seventh floor of the museum. All of the works are gelatin silver prints, made between 1977 and 1981, either vintage or printed in 2022. No physical dimensions or edition sizes were provided on the wall labels. The exhibit also includes a single vitrine, displaying a copy of the original 1982 photobook of the work and a copy of the 25th anniversary 2009 reprint edition. The show was drawn from the museum’s collection and was organized by Kelly Long. (Installation shots below.)
Comments/Context: For those wanting to study the cultural nuances of the Black diaspora in America, the Low Country region off the coast of South Carolina is a particularly rich location. Given the subtropical climate and geography of the region, the Sea Islands were developed as rice plantations in the early 18th century, tended by slaves who were brought from similar rice producing areas in Africa. After the Civil War and through the late 19th century, most of the original plantation owners fled (from disease, crop pests, pollution, and hurricane damage, among other reasons), leaving the formerly enslaved people to acquire the land and develop their own communities.
In the following decades, the Gullah Geechee people were decently isolated from the outside world, allowing them to create hybrid cultural practices that meshed African traditions with local realities. A unique creole mix of languages, religions, crafts, beliefs, and community life emerged and flourished there, and until the region once again became of interest to those on the mainland (this time in the 1960s, for the development of beaches, resorts, and tourism), the Gullah Geechee people were largely left alone, making the islands an exceptional example of an independent community of southern African American culture.
Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe began visiting the area in 1977, traveling in particular to Daufuskie Island, which sits between Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia. As the continued rumblings of potential sale and development lingered in the background, she made photographs there and on other nearby islands for a handful of years, spending time with Gullah Geechee families and paying specific attention to the rhythms and traditions of their lives. Her goal was to document the unique story of the secluded island and its remaining Black descendants, in all their beauty and complexity, before any broader changes might start to occur.
This intimate, one room presentation of Moutoussamy-Ashe’s larger Daufuskie Island project clocks in at just above a dozen images, so it can’t really hope to provide a comprehensive survey of Gullah Geechee life. Instead, it offers a tight sampler of representative details and resonant moments, touching on various subjects and cultural practices while still making room for warm portraits that bring us closer to the actual people living there.
Several of the images essentially set the scene, capturing the surfaces of homes and movements of the everyday routines. Men of all ages gather round to boil crabs in an outdoor drum. Another man poles his boat out from the shoreline, pushing through the reeds. A house is made from weathered boards, its smokestack held up with a forked tree branch, with hanging laundry and loose window screens adding fabric textures. And inside a neatly functional kitchen, canning jars and buckets stand ready near an ancient stove.
Rituals and rites of passage make up another group of pictures. A man in a dark suit carries a flag at a high school graduation ceremony. A smiling bride-to-be stands with her maid of honor, who is still wearing her slippers. A dapper man in a hat lingers outside a Baptist church, creating a bold contrast of light and dark. And the wedding party ultimately gathers outside the church, documenting a family and community milestone.
Most of the rest of photographs on view show us faces and personalities, mostly of women. We’re introduced to Lavinia “Blossom” Robinson and Miss Bertha, who both sit with patience and understated strength, and then we encounter Aunt Tootie, who watches the kids while hanging the laundry. More anonymous are a young girl standing in the shadows behind a screen door, and a woman taking a ride in a car, whose side window has been covered by plastic and is blowing in; both of these pictures have a kind of quiet formal grace that makes them more than just straightforward portraits. Seen together, these images of women, from young to old, create a sense of continuity and generational connection, as individuals within the larger community.
Moutoussamy-Ashe isn’t, of course, the only artist to be inspired by Gullah Geechee culture; Carrie Mae Weems visited the Sea Islands in the early 1990s, as did Julie Dash for her film “Daughters of the Dust”, and others have come and gone both before and since. What Moutoussamy-Ashe has successfully done is convey a nourishing sense of the unique culture of the place, at a time when change was imminent. Her photographs honor the intertwined histories there, and were made with care and compassion for those she came to know. The result is a body of work that celebrates the richness and nuance of this special African American community, rather than treating it like a historical footnote.
Collector’s POV: Since this is a museum exhibition, there are of course no posted prices. Moutoussamy-Ashe does not appear to have consistent gallery representation at this time, so connection with the artist via her website (linked in the sidebar) likely remains the best option for those collectors interested in following up.