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

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Private Story

Buried Memories

Copyright Caroline Gutman 2024

Updated Feb 2022

Summary

Grant Proposal Summary: Unprotected African American burial grounds are at risk of being destroyed. Already, many have been covered by playgrounds, highways and parking lots.

I will document several unprotected sites and use a multi-disciplinary approach to piece together their histories. I will also explore ways to build a photographic and data archive that suppor

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

Where else had African American burial sites 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.

I want to make images that underscore the urgency of protecting these sites. How/if we choose to preserve this American history may well determine how we see this country's future.

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’ll map and document 5-8 sites through interviews and archival research, building a photo and data archive for use in protecting these sites. I’ll photograph what can be documented and find ways to represent what’s no longer visible.

I feel obligated to go beyond photography and writing. Land rights, archeological preservation, proposed legislation, lawsuits and activism are also essential pieces of this story. Untangling the complexities of injustice requires methodical and collaborative multi-disciplinary work.

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The images I’ve shared are from the forthcoming story I pitched about the history of indigo in South Carolina, the historical role of enslaved people, and indigo’s modern revival. I first learned about Charleston’s potter’s fields while researching burial grounds of enslaved people for this story. (NB: please do not publish these photos anywhere -- they are pending publication).