An enslaved person with her child

An enslaved person with her child

Photographs of Enslaved Black Women in Brazil

The photographer Marc Ferrez was an important and active figure in 19th century Brazil. Ferrez’s work covered many important events in Brazilian history. He focused on the political contexts of bodies and land. This photograph of an enslaved woman and her child was taken in Salvador de Bahia, Brasil, in 1884. The image depicts a Black woman with her baby strapped to her back in a striped fabric, and a large basket of plantains balanced on her head. She is wearing a white dress and white head scarf. The woman is looking downwards with a neutral expression while her baby is looking at the camera tiredly. This woman is not depicted as a wet nurse, rather as an enslaved mother who has to work while navigating her baby at the same time. This image is a response to Ferrez’s depictions of slavery in Brazil, and the representations of painful lives of enslaved people. It is not clear on this enslaved woman’s relationship to her work or an employer. However, it is in contrast to the many photographs of enslaved Black women with white children. In this particular photograph we can gather that she still cares for her baby, but is still reduced to her work as a slave, much like wet nurses.

Marc Ferrez

Ferrez, Marc. A Slave with Her Child. Photograph. NPR. Salvador de Bahia, 1884. Moreira Salles Institue. https://www.npr.org/2015/09/12/439257489/brazil-enslaved.

Garcia-Navarro, Lulu. “Brazil Enslaved.” NPR. NPR, September 12, 2015. https://www.npr.org/2015/09/12/439257489/brazil-enslaved

Moreira Salles Institue

1884

NPR

Moreira Salles Institute, NPR Public Domain

jpg file

Portuguese

Slavery in Brazil

Photograph