Caroline Gutman

Photographer

Buried Memories

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Location: Washington, DC & Philadelphia, PA

Nationality: American

Biography: Caroline Gutman is a freelance photographer and writer based between Washington, DC and Philadelphia, PA, USA. Her work often looks at gender and economic inequality, climate change, and art and cultural innovation. Her work has been featured by... MORE

Focus: Photographer, Photojournalist, Journalist, Writer, Researcher, Reporter, Politics, Travel, Environment, History, Photo Assistant, Documentary, News, Video, Photography, Domestic, Foreign, Portraiture, Stock, Lifestyle, Conceptual, Culture, Foreign Desk, Arts & Culture, Journalist Investigative, Freelance, Civil Rights and Social Inequality, Humanitarian, Assignments, Commercial, Entrepreneur, Fellow, Consultant, International, Creative Professional, Editorial, Photo Shoots, Editing, Storyteller, Visual Artist, Climate, Digital Journalism, Photo Coordinator, Feature Stories, Environmental Stories, International Stories, National Park stories, Still Photographer, US Politics, Portrait Photography, Reportage

A Betsy Ross flag hangs outside... Carolina, on November 9, 2021.

A Betsy Ross flag hangs outside a house at dusk in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 9, 2021.

A wooded area near burial groun... grew indigo at the plantation.

A wooded area near burial grounds at former plantation Drayton Hall, in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 16, 2021. Surviving records indicate enslaved people grew indigo at the plantation.

Indigo leaves and salt on an in... Carolina, on November 7, 2021.

Indigo leaves and salt on an indigo dye stained table during a free community indigo workshop at Dogleg Farms, in James Island, South Carolina, on November 7, 2021.

Portrait of Sheena Myers at her... American licensed hemp farmer.

Portrait of Sheena Myers at her home in Hollywood, South Carolina, on November 16, 2021. Myers, a third-generation farmer who started growing indigo in 2021, is also the State’s first African American licensed hemp farmer.

Pine needles fill the opening t...d to an industrial parking lot.

Pine needles fill the opening to an 18th-century brick indigo vat found at Otranto plantation in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 6, 2021. The vat has since been relocated to an industrial parking lot.

The main house at Drayton Hall,... grounds and slave cabin ruins.

The main house at Drayton Hall, a former plantation where enslaved people grew indigo, in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 16, 2021. The former plantation contains burial grounds and slave cabin ruins.

Light hits the ruins of an unpr...go vats were built out of wood.

Light hits the ruins of an unprotected brick indigo vat in the woods on Johns Island, South Carolina, on November 16, 2021. Most 18th century indigo vats were built out of wood.

Harvested indigo leaves hang fr...h Carolina on November 16,2021.

Harvested indigo leaves hang from lines in a storage container at Dogleg Farms, in James Island, South Carolina on November 16,2021.

Jimmy Kerr reaches down to exam...he indigo vat ruins as a child.

Jimmy Kerr reaches down to examine a piece of an unpreserved indigo vat on his former property, in Johns Island, South Carolina, on November 16, 2021. Kerr, who grew up on the same land, played in the indigo vat ruins as a child.

An indigo-dyed dress hangs in a...d processes indigo at her home.

An indigo-dyed dress hangs in artist Leah Magar's studio in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 17, 2021. Magar, who is trained as a milliner, grows and processes indigo at her home.

Confederate rose bush at Pluff ...Carolina, on November 13, 2021.

Confederate rose bush at Pluff Mudd Farm, in Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina, on November 13, 2021.

A vat used to melt wax off fini...teach batik dyeing to students.

A vat used to melt wax off finished batik dyed fabric, at Ashley Hall School in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 15, 2021. Artist Arianne King Comer, who was an artist-in-resident at the school, used the vat to teach batik dyeing to students.

The Charleston Harbor at dusk, ...shipped to England from nearby.

The Charleston Harbor at dusk, in South Carolina, on November 16, 2021. Ships with enslaved people arrived in Charleston and indigo was shipped to England from nearby.

Private Story

Buried Memories

Copyright 2024

Updated Feb 2022

Location Charleston, SC

Summary

Unprotected African American burial grounds across the U.S. are at risk of being destroyed. Already, many have been covered by playgrounds, highways and parking lots.

I will make images at 5-8 sites that underscore the urgency of protecting them, and document community preservation efforts. I will piece together burial ground histories while building a photo and data archive to support their protection.

I hope to answer: How do we preserve/restore the dignity of the deceased? How can this project help recover public memory and understanding of the past? How do we prevent this from repeating?

Last November, I went to Charleston, South Carolina to photograph a story about the history of indigo and the role of enslaved people. While there, I learned about one of the city's potter's fields where ~26,000 people – predominantly Black, – were buried. In 1927, Charleston paved over the grounds, building a stadium for white residents and a playground for Black children. Learning this shocked me. When I visited, I couldn't find a memorial marker anywhere.

Where else had African American burial grounds been paved over? A hospital parking lot and part of I-95 are two places recently in the news.

In a sense, this is the erasing of a whole people’s history. How and if we choose to preserve this American history may well determine how we see this country's future.

I want to make images that underscore the urgency of preserving these sites and the absence of memorialization, imparting the same dignity I try to convey when I photograph the living. I hope to answer: How do we preserve/restore the dignity of the deceased? How can this project help recover public memory and understanding of the past? How do we prevent this from happening again?

I have initially photographed two unprotected burial grounds. I plan to map and document five to eight sites through interviews and archival research, building a photo and data archive for use in protecting these and other sites. I will photograph what can be documented and find ways to represent what is no longer visible.

I feel compelled to go beyond photography and writing. Land rights, archeological preservation, lawsuits and activism are also essential pieces of this story. Untangling the complexities of injustice requires methodical and collaborative multi-disciplinary work, and I will interview and work with scholars and experts across these fields to accomplish that.

I have built partnerships with the Charleston County Public Library and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission in South Carolina, and I have been speaking to the office of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) who co-sponsored a bill to commission a three-year study of unprotected African American burial sites. I have identified other preservation organizations (both non-profits and university centers) in other states to contact. As part of the Pulitzer Center’s speakers’ program, I am also confident I could speak to and engage with high school and university students about this project as it expands.

The images I have submitted are from a forthcoming story I pitched about the history of indigo in South Carolina, the under-acknowledged role of enslaved people in its production, and the plant and dye's modern revival. I first learned about Charleston’s potter’s fields while researching burial grounds of enslaved people for this story.

Thank you for considering my application.

**please do not publish submitted photos**