From a white man in 'blackface' to a black Union soldier and an am-dram society dressed as a lynch mob, Mirror of Race's collection reveals a forgotten world of US race relations.
Early photography is more than a window on history. It is an uncanny and disturbing encounter with real people, the light reflected off their faces falling on chemically sensitised surfaces long ago.
The camera has been around now for nearly two centuries. Yet photographs from the 19th century have the same punch as pictures taken digitally today. We are not seeing mere pictures of people, but a trace of the people themselves, as they looked in life.
Read the piece in The Guardian:
