The Florid Dress
Photography

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The Florid Dress
Artwork Details
Artist/Maker
Clarence John Laughlin
American, 1905–1985
American, 1905–1985
Date
1941, printed 1979
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Accession #
1981.72
Dimensions
Please contact the Museum for more information.
Location
Currently Not on View
Description
Laughlin wrote that this photograph “takes us to the simple whitewashed cabin, on a Louisiana bayou, of Mrs. Ida Turner, descendant of slaves. She is wearing a floral pattern that contrasts boldly with the sunlit wood. Below hangs the chain to which the cow is usually tied and the tub at which the pigs are fed—playing parts in the design of the picture, as they do in the life of Ida Turner herself.” Laughlin regularly photographed the African American men and women who lived and worked on former plantations around New Orleans to celebrate their resolve and dignity.