Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe and the Last Gullah Islands

A selection of Moutoussamy-Ashe’s photographs of Daufuskie Island were first published as a book in 1982, and included a foreword by Alex Haley, author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family. For the book’s 25th anniversary edition, the artist returned to her original contact sheets and expanded upon her earlier selection, organizing the images into four categories: “The People,” “Place,” “Everyday Life,” and “Spiritual Grace.” Portraits of children and elders, images of homes and the shoreline, people at work and at rest, church services, and burials together form an impression of a community on the cusp of great change. The commitment to protecting and amplifying legacy reflected in this publication also led to Moutoussamy-Ashe’s 1986 historical survey, Viewfinders: Black Women Photographers, and Daddy and Me, a 1993 picture book documenting the relationship between the artist’s husband, tennis legend Arthur Ashe, and their daughter, during Arthur’s decline from AIDS.