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Circa 1902-1906. "Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Alabama. Branch & Vicinity School. Woman standing at gate holding a cat." 8x10 inch glass negative by the pioneering feminist-photojournalist Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952). View full size.
This woman has worth and dignity and knows it. I like to think that she could cut you down with a glance and you would thank her for it.
The foreground in sharp focus, the background soft. The texture of the weathered fence looks like something you'd see at the beach. The woman is handsome. The cat is ... a cat. But my eye keeps getting pulled beyond all that, to the door, which the camera is staring straight at. And even though it is all dark inside, there is nothing scary about it. The open gate, the handsome woman, and her cat reassure you.
Been reading a book about Booker T Washington and Teddy Roosevelt. Very interesting read on their relationship and how they became friends despite the existing racism in the south and how some thought they were doing too much, and some thought they were doing too little.
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