Momentous Reckoning reimagines the presence and absence of the Confederate monuments that were erected after the Civil War. Using appropriated negatives from the Jim Crow-era postcard archives of the Detroit Publishing Company along with text from various Confederate monument inscriptions, the book confronts our perceptions and understanding of race and the legacies of history with a contemporary reckoning of societal transformation and change. With each monument image, while the statue appears to have been removed, a slight trace of what was once present and the poignant inscriptions remind us that our collective consciousness may not have yet arrived at a place of national apology and reconciliation.
The Detroit Publishing Company was founded in the late 19th century and would become one of the most influential American photographic publishers. Originally established as the Detroit Photographic Company, it would later be owned in 1905 by renowned landscape photographer William Henry Jackson who photographed and managed the publishing enterprise until it went into receivership in 1924. The company capitalized on the Photochrom process, which allowed for large-format black-and-white photographs to be reproduced in color, revolutionizing the presentation of color in photography. Its extensive collection of over 15,000 postcards of scenic and urban imagery shaped public perception of the American social landscape during a period of rapid industrialization and expansion, making it a significant cultural, historical and photographic repository.
