Will Smith as Peter. 2021.
Opening Statement for the Emancipation Gallery Experience:
“You don’t need to be a photographer to take a picture; just a witness.
When words cannot describe what is in front of you, all one has to do is stand back, say nothing, and let the subject inhabit the space solely as themselves.
Their own dignity and power will say more than words ever will.
Peter’s single image resonates on a deeply human level, not because it conjures the words to describe itself, but because it evokes vivid imagery of the world he lived in.
His portrait wasn’t just a window into one of America’s darkest chapters; it was a vivid rendering of the soul of the man who survived it.
So vivid was this picture that it would take almost 200,000 more individual frames to assemble the film about his life.
It only felt appropriate that the subjects of these photos have their own “Peter Portrait” taken.
They, too, have their own scars to show, their own epic sagas to tell, and their own powerful dignities to display.
To quote a historian, “Emancipation is not a historical term; it is an active term and one to be used in the present.”
I was fortunate enough to be a witness on Antoine’s movie set. It was a moving and spiritual experience to see how one man’s drive and vision to tell this story created a vast and realistic landscape, where, for brief moments at a time, you could be lost in a terrifying place in history.
Even more spiritual was the realization that the same faces on his set were the same faces from that time in history, and we are not so distant from this kind of tyranny and injustice.
If the word “emancipation” can be an active and present term, then this film was that act, and these pictures an extension.
It was an honor and pleasure to have been able to contribute to Antoine’s vision in my small way. He treated the subject matter with tremendous respect while also refusing to cover up its scars. Without his support, these images would never have been taken.
Many thanks to Antoine, Will, and Apple for their uncompromising approach to telling this beautiful and haunting American story.”
The Emancipation gallery experience was featured at the Congressional Black Caucus Conference in September of 2023. It was open for 4 days followed by a Q&A with director Antoine Fuqua and photographer Michael Legato, moderated by the preeminent voice Angela Rye.
Twenty of these images were carefully chosen and curated for the show.