
How the history of photography is inextricable from that of slavery - huihuiilly
https://bostonreview.net/literature-culture/alexis-l-boylan-race-black-and-white
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mimixco
This article is troubling. It raises an important point that, yes, all
technologies are always used to subjugate and control other people. But
emphasizing this aspect in the history of photography is really overstating
the case.

The person most responsible for the popularization of photography and its
transition from the domain of specialized experts to the purview of the common
man is George Eastman, the founder of Kodak. His sales strategy of "You press
the button; we do everything else" and his invention of cameras and
centralized film development which made that strategy possible transformed
photography into the snapshots we know today. It had nothing to do with
slavery or oppression and everything to do with simplifying a technical
process so that it became available to more people.

Leaving out this fact, which impacted photography more than the use in
documenting slave ownership, is a misleading telling of the tale.

