The Vineyard Gazette – Martha's Vineyard News

The photographer Austin Bryant visited the island with his family a few years ago when he pulled his car over on the West Basin Road Road and took a photo of the quiet dune landscape of Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).

The cranberry bogs were on one side of the street, where the trunk has chosen the cake berry for centuries. On the other hand, Lobsterville Beach, fishing tribal members and learn to swim.

Later, Mr. Bryant read an old newspaper article about the commitment of a new African -American Heritage Trail in the same country. He learned the story of a enslaved man named Randall Burton, who escaped on a boat and hid into the dunes until a woman Wampanoag called Beulah Vanderhoop found him and gave him protection.

“It was a profound experience for me,” said Bryant. “This man Randall is a black man and stand there in the landscape [and I] Had this connection in 160 odd years … she sent me to this deep search for further information about this story. “

During his persecution of his MFA at Hartford University, Mr. Bryant began to examine the interface of African American and Wampanoag on the island. His work became the subject where they still stay, an exhibition that was currently being exhibited in the Martha's Vineyard Museum.

The exhibition combines Mr. Bryant's photography, archive pictures and newspaper articles to tell stories that have been lost over time. Mr. Bryant will hold an artist discussion in the museum on Sunday, May 4th, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

One of his exhibited photographs shows a house that is covered with overgrown glycinia, the vines that envelop the apartment in an eerie mood. Mr. Bryant said that Ms. Vanderhoop was protected by Mr. Burton in 1854.

Another photo is from an oak tree, the long branches of which throw a ghostly shadow over Tisbury Meadow Preserves. Mr. Bryant said when he took the photo, there was a series of bleached fabric around the trunk, which resembled a number of white flags. He does not know whether the tree has a historical meaning, but said that the dark aspects of the picture cause many emotions that the audience wanted to think about.

“I want people to rethink the stories around them and for me that are embedded in the landscape,” said Bryant.

A photo places a fate on a scratch -shaped rock that was taken on a cold night in February. Mr. Bryant said that the rock was important for the history of creation of Wampanoag Völker and often left the tribal members to each other.

He included portraits of people who interviewed when researching the exhibition. Many of the test subjects are Afro-Indigens and Living Examples of the intersections between the two municipalities, of which he said, that people who visit the island are often not aware of.

“Unless you visit the Aquinnah cultural center or really take the time to deal with it [Wampanoag] In history it can be something that people miss completely, “said Mr. Bryant.” I think I think [my exhibition] It's just a memory that these people are here with us now. They are their neighbors when they live here, or they are the people they see every day. “

Mr. Bryant said, of course, it was to categorize people under a breed. As a bi-racist man, he said that he wanted his exhibition to demonstrate a commonality between people who are often lost.

“We are all generally connected as people …” said Mr. Bryant. “There are many intersections between us and we are not divided into buckets.”

The exhibition combines photography, archive pictures and newspaper articles. – Ray Ewing

During the entire exhibition, there are hardly any caps that Mr. Bryant intentionally did to get the audience to see what happens. He said it brings the audience closer to work and inspires reflection.

The only text can be found in an advertisement of four articles from the archive of the Weinberg gazette. Mr. Bryant reduced most words with thick black lines to uncover short sentences, of which he said they were supposed to cause strong emotions. In one of the articles it says: “In your eyes there was no moisture” and another says: “The hammer had fallen and the girl too”.

“In the indication of [the words] A little more, people are forcing this language to be reckoned … ”said Mr. Bryant. [the words] Quick and a distance between yourself and these stories. “

Mr. Bryant said he hoped that people who visit his exhibition with a deeper feeling of the stories around them and the country they inhabit them deeper.

Where they still stay, will continue until June 29. You can find more information at mvmuseum.org.