As a visual representation, a photograph captures a specific moment in time and space. It extends beyond what the human eye can see. In this thesis, I focus on the phenomenological representation of African American trauma as reinterpreted through the lenses of Black photographers. More specifically, my research advocates for alternative ways of viewing and interpreting images. The topic of my dissertation is thus Black consciousness as expressed through the photographic process. I explore photography as a model of transhistorical Black aesthetics, affording priority to contemporary philosophical perspectives within the discourse of ongoing violence and subjugation. My research question is thus as follows: how does African American photography reveal trauma and purification? Additionally, what are the implications of the optical unconsciousness of the Black subject? By examining the subconscious relationship between the photographer and their subject during the contemporary image-making process, I aim to uncover patterns from the past. This facilitates a process of healing and contributes toward enabling one to understand the influence of the unconscious mind on behaviors and lived experiences. My analysis focuses on the unconscious perceptions of both the viewer and the image.

To lay the groundwork for my methodology, the thesis investigates the philosophical genealogy of the photograph. It sheds light on how photography intensifies violence against the Black subject and contributes to an ambivalent understanding of the purgatory of consciousness. In religious contexts, purgatory is a state or place where souls undergo purification or temporary punishment before reaching their ultimate destination. It thus serves as a transitional state between life on Earth and the afterlife. In this research, I question whether the process of creating a photograph allows for such a transitional relationship between reality and imagination. In what ways does photography, viewed as a purification process, reflect the aspirations of early Black photographers and their contemporary counterparts? This concept will be explored further below.

As such, this thesis focuses on transhistorical African American photography. More specifically, it grapples with the reverberations and vestiges of trauma that are often absent yet implied in African American photography, with an emphasis on the violence that is left to the viewer’s imagination. How can photography serve as an archive for tracing these remnants? I argue that these traces, whether they are visible or not, persist within the collective consciousness of Black life, existing within the ongoing violence and traumas of enduring the aftermath of slavery. I further argue that the legacies of slavery continue to shape and haunt contemporary Black existence, a state described by Christina Sharpe as being “in the wake” (page ref.). This phrase refers to being caught in the turbulent and often destructive currents of this historical and ongoing violence. It involves tackling both the past and the present and understanding how historical traumas persist and shape individual and collective experiences. Being “in the wake” thus entails confronting and reckoning with the ongoing impacts of slavery and racism on Black lives and communities.