No. 24. A Plantation Scene, in South Carolina,

1860

This image—intended for circulation and collectability—depicts enslaved people in South Carolina gathering outside their cabins, which are seen in a single row that recedes toward the horizon. When the image is seen through a binocular stereoscopic viewer, which creates the sense of three-dimensionality, the effect of depth created by the row of cabins receding diagonally is heightened. Taken in 1860, this image serves as a rare and useful photographic document of an antebellum plantation. The captions on the back of the photograph paint a rosy picture of the life of slaves on the plantation: “The task of the industrious and provident slave was often / finished by mid-day. After which they were permitted to work for themselves in a / garden patch attached to their quarters.” The reframing of a harsh reality into a fair working environment represents the use of commercial photographs to promulgate beliefs about slavery around the time of the Civil War.