2 Cents: Frances Benjamin Johnston

I know nothing about Frances Johnston, or about her work other than that done at the Hampton Institute in the 1890s. But she's worth knowing for that alone.

I saw several of her Hampton photographs the past year at MoMA. The Hampton Institute was founded shortly after the Civil War, dedicated to the education and vocational training of freed African-Americans. The photographs are of real Hampton students, doing studenty-things, but the scenes are obviously entirely constructed by Johnston.

These photographs stopped me in my tracks. My 2 cents: A good photograph appeals to the eye, the heart, and the mind. And Johnston's best do that for me. Here is my favorite, entitled "Stairway at the Treasurer's Residence, Students at Work":


I like this one as well, entitled "Agriculture, Mixing Fertilizer":


And this one is entitled "Geography: Studying the Seasons":


More from this series can be seen at MoMA's on-line collection gallery.

(NB: A quick Google search reveals that Carrie Mae Weems published a riff on Johnston's work in 2001. Entitled "Carrie Mae Weems: The Hampton Project," the book (from the publisher's notes) "brings together photographs from Frances B. Johnston's stunning Hampton Album of 1900 with a related series of images by renowned contemporary artist Carrie Mae Weems. This book examines the work of two women, distanced by time and race, yet joined by their shared interest in a unique educational experience.")