Caroline Gutman

Photographer

The Blue That Enchanted the World

Follow Hire

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

Arianne King Comer works on an ...ndigo dye to create a pattern.

Arianne King Comer works on an indigo batik design made on rice paper, alongside Kelly Fort, at Pluff Mudd Farm, on Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina. King Comer uses hot wax dots and lines and brushed on layers of indigo dye to create a pattern.

Harvested indigo leaves on stal...irst drying out indigo stalks.

Harvested indigo leaves on stalks hanging upside down to dry, inside a storage container at Dogleg Farms in Johns Island, South Carolina. Ellie Maas Davis, who runs the farm, had been experimenting with different methods of processing indigo, including first drying out indigo stalks.

Sheena Myers stands for a portr...sed hemp farmer in the region.

Sheena Myers stands for a portrait at her home in Hollywood, South Carolina. Myers, who is a U.S. Air Force veteran and third-generation farmer, began growing indigo in 2021 and producing a range of items through her company GenoType including indigo soap. Previously, Myers became the first African American licensed hemp farmer in the region.

The main house at Drayton Hall,...rice, cattle, pigs and indigo.

The main house at Drayton Hall, a former 350-acre plantation in Charleston, South Carolina purchased by John Drayton in 1738. There is no surviving material culture related to indigo production on site other than written records. Charles Drayton, son of John Drayton, described the planting and cultivation of indigo at Drayton Hall in his plantation diary records from 1793. Drayton Hall contains a known burial ground of enslaved people and the ruins of slave lodgings. John Drayton, who owned more than 100 commercial plantations across 76,000 acres of land during his lifetime, is believed to have owned thousands of enslaved people, including those at Drayton Hall. According to Carter Hudgins, President and CEO of Drayton Hall Preservation Trust, enslaved people would have been responsible for non-commercial agriculture including rice, cattle, pigs and indigo.

Wrapped indigo-dyed garments an...udent field trips on the farm.

Wrapped indigo-dyed garments and napkins dyed by Kelly Fort dry in the sun at Pluff Mudd Farm, on Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina. The clips and shape cutouts serve as color blocks to create patterns within the indigo. The items will be sold at the the local farmers' market. In addition to growing and processing indigo, Fort and her husband Dale raise donkeys, goats and chickens, teach traditional crafts, and host student field trips on the farm.

Indigo farmers Kelly Fort shows...ion and harvesting techniques.

Indigo farmers Kelly Fort shows Ellie Maas Davis her indigo field, at Pluff Mudd Farm, on Wadmalaw Island. Both women began growing indigo the previous year, continuing to experiment with different cultivation and harvesting techniques.

Textile artist and educator Ari...r ancestors,” says King Comer.

Textile artist and educator Arianne King Comer stands for a portrait, in Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina. King Comer, who has been an Artist in Residence for the State of South Carolina since 1995, describes the connection between indigo and South Carolina as "spiritual." In 2021, King Comer was an Artist in Residence at Ashley Hall, a girls' preparatory school, in Charleston, South Carolina. “Indigo is the voice of our ancestors,” says King Comer.

Students at Ashley Hall school ...hop led by Arianne King Comer.

Students at Ashley Hall school experiment with batik wax blocking on indigo during a workshop led by Arianne King Comer.

Indigo leaves, salt and indigo ...digo workshop at Dogleg Farms.

Indigo leaves, salt and indigo dye stained on a table at the free community indigo workshop at Dogleg Farms.

Curator Virginia Theerman adjus... Carolina in the 18th century.

Curator Virginia Theerman adjusts one of Eliza Lucas Pinckney's shoes from The Charleston Museum archives, in Charleston, South Carolina. Pinckney is credited with first introducing and cultivating indigo in South Carolina in the 18th century.

Joy Mills carries an indigo pla... American Farmers Association.

Joy Mills carries an indigo plant after repotting it, in her backyard in Cross, South Carolina. Mills, an avid gardener, and her partner Jermaine Euland began growing indigo from seed in 2021, alongside other plants including hemp. Euland is the founder of the African American Farmers Association.

Remains of a brick indigo vat i... to an industrial parking lot.

Remains of a brick indigo vat in the woods on Johns Island, South Carolina. Jimmy Kerr grew up on the property and played in the indigo vat as a child, not realizing what it was at the time. To the side of the vat is a pile of oyster shells; lime from oyster shells was commonly used in the indigo dye making process. The vat is one of a handful of known surviving vats in the region, including one at the former Otranto Plantation in Hanahan, South Carolina, which was relocated to an industrial parking lot.

Attendees learn about indigo ha...ndigo farmer Ellie Maas Davis.

Attendees learn about indigo harvesting and dyeing at a free community indigo dyeing workshop at Dogleg Farms in Johns Island, South Carolina. The workshop was hosted by indigo farmer Ellie Maas Davis.

Joy Mills holds indigo seeds at... American Farmers Association.

Joy Mills holds indigo seeds at her home in Cross, SC. Mills, an avid gardener, and her partner Jermaine Euland began growing indigo from seed in 2021, alongside other plants including hemp. Euland is the founder of the African American Farmers Association.

Textile artist and educator Ari... the future,” says King Comer.

Textile artist and educator Arianne King Comer stirs a vat of hot water used to melt wax off batik designs made by students, at Ashley Hall in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2021, King Comer was a master batik Artist in Residence at Ashley Hall, a girls’ preparatory school in Charleston, South Carolina. “South Carolina wants to become the global center of indigo. That's what we can do that gets us from the past to what indigo can really be in the future,” says King Comer.

A Confederate rose bush at Pluf...dmalaw Island, South Carolina.

A Confederate rose bush at Pluff Mudd Farm, on Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina.

Portrait of artist Leah Magar a... learn the true history."

Portrait of artist Leah Magar at her textile design studio in Charleston, South Carolina. Magar, who originally trained as a milliner, cultivates and processes indigo and other natural dyes using what she describes as a "seed to stich vision” inspired by Eliza Pinckney. When Magar moved to nearby Johns Island, she became inspired on her walks in the woods. "I would see all the wild plants, and it was just so beautiful I knew I wanted to work with nature somehow." Soon after she received indigo seeds to plant, Magar discovered wild indigo growing near her home. "I thought, this is meant to be. It has been a spiritual and a sacred path for me." In the process of working with indigo, Magar has also delved further into its past. “The history of indigo in South Carolina is awe inspiring and rich but very dark and tangled and ugly... I had to go back and learn the true history."

A house flying a Betsy Ross Ame...in Charleston, South Carolina.

A house flying a Betsy Ross American flag, in Charleston, South Carolina.

PLAY

STOP

GRID

FULL

LOVE

Thumbnail of Arianne King Comer works on an i_indigo dye to create a pattern.

Thumbnail of Harvested indigo leaves on stalk_first drying out indigo stalks.

Thumbnail of Sheena Myers stands for a portra_nsed hemp farmer in the region.

Thumbnail of The main house at Drayton Hall, _ rice, cattle, pigs and indigo.

Thumbnail of Wrapped indigo-dyed garments and_tudent field trips on the farm.

Thumbnail of Indigo farmers Kelly Fort shows _tion and harvesting techniques.

Thumbnail of Textile artist and educator Aria_ur ancestors,” says King Comer.

Thumbnail of Students at Ashley Hall school e_shop led by Arianne King Comer.

Thumbnail of Indigo leaves, salt and indigo d_ndigo workshop at Dogleg Farms.

Thumbnail of Curator Virginia Theerman adjust_h Carolina in the 18th century.

Thumbnail of Joy Mills carries an indigo plan_n American Farmers Association.

Thumbnail of Remains of a brick indigo vat in_d to an industrial parking lot.

Thumbnail of Attendees learn about indigo har_indigo farmer Ellie Maas Davis.

Thumbnail of Joy Mills holds indigo seeds at _n American Farmers Association.

Thumbnail of Textile artist and educator Aria_n the future,” says King Comer.

Thumbnail of A Confederate rose bush at Pluff_admalaw Island, South Carolina.

Thumbnail of Portrait of artist Leah Magar at_d learn the true history."

Thumbnail of A house flying a Betsy Ross Amer_ in Charleston, South Carolina.

Private Story

The Blue That Enchanted the World

Copyright Caroline Gutman 2024

Updated Jan 2023

Location South Carolina

Topics Art, Arts, Community, Culture stories, Documentary, Editorial, Fine Art, Historical, History, Journalism, Minority, Personal Projects, Photography, Photojournalism, Portrait, Portraiture, Race, Reportage, World heritage

Summary

Indigo is growing again in South Carolina, revived by artisans and farmers with a modern take on a forgotten history

Say ‘indigo’ and most people know the color. The rich blue is a natural dye and traditional medicine across continents, cultures and civilizations, historically associated with agrarian women's economic empowerment. But in the U.S., indigo's history is tied to slavery: An 18th-century slaveholder’s daughter is widely credited with planting the first indigo seeds in South Carolina and making it a lucrative cash crop.

Today, women in the Lowcountry have revived indigo cultivation and dyeing, building a flourishing community of fiber artists and homesteaders. As South Carolina Artist-in-Residence Arianne King Comer described, “Indigo is the voice of our ancestors.”

Story supported by The Pulitzer Center. Reporting by Latria Graham.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/indigo-making-comeback-south-carolina-180980987/