The April issue of Smithsonian Magazine features a photograph that I made on assignment in Washington, D.C. last November. I was invited by the magazine to make an image of the Green Book, a guide first published in 1937 for African Americans who traveled by car and needed to navigate the segregated United States. The magazine was started by Victor H. Green, a black postal carrier from Harlem. It began as a slim, 15-page directory with recommendations in the New York area and listed safe places for black travelers to visit. These included gas stations, hotels, beauty salons, golf courses and even individuals who welcomed people into their homes. The guidebook grew as people contributed to the directory and eventually this publication encompassed areas outside of the U.S. You can read the story here. The image was created using the wet-plate collodion technique, known as an Ambrotype, a photographic process that dates back to about 1851 and was used as documentary photography tool during the American Civil War. I have used this process for a variety of applications from magazine stories to personal projects.
The Green Book, photographed at the archives of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
