Photographs or any visual representation of slavery can have
incredible effects on the viewer that other representations, particularly text, cannot have. One
might describe in gruesome detail the horrible practices of abuse and torture that existed on
plantations in the United States or in Jamaica or in South America, anywhere that slavery
existed, and the horror is palpable and disturbing. But they lack the power and focus of visual
images for a variety of reasons.
One, and it was mentioned in the
previous answer, is the way that a visual representation allows the viewer to identify as another
human being with the slave or slaves in the picture. Sometimes this can inspire more empathy than
any description or account, no matter how well written. As visual animals, humans tend to have
more of a visceral reaction to visuals than to other forms of
presentation.
The second important thing that pictures can
contribute are the incredible contrasts between the manner and posture of people enslaved and
free people. The juxtaposition of free man and slave that often occurs in visual representations
of slavery is often an extremely powerful one because the differences are often understated but
also often quite powerful.
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