This image is of a slave named Gordon. Around the 1860's, Gordon had escaped his master in Mississippi and fled to the Union Army in Baton Rouge. There, he enlisted in service to fight the south, and underwent a brief medical exam where the extent of his injuries became clear. He was whipped by his master an untold number of times, and each laceration left a permanent scar, equating to the wounds seen in the picture. This image, titled "The Scourged Back," was quickly picked up by newspapers, and began its circulation in the abolitionist North, galvanizing the movement further. This was one of the first uses of photography as propaganda.
The significance of this picture is/was great. As one of the earliest instances of propaganda, this image portrayed the reality of life for enslaved Blacks in the South. Photography was still in its infancy, and was not widely used at the time. However, this photo showed how pictures could communicate powerful messages and ideas simply by capturing the reality of a situation. Rather than have an artist paint or a writer write about an issue, photography took a true, unfiltered frame from the world, and allowed it to be spread very quickly. This ability is seen still today. Many horrific acts of violence and terror are usually summed up using a single photo from the event. That image is capable of being interpreted a million different ways, but regardless of who you show it to, the same message gets across. So, thanks to "The Scourged Back," and thanks to Gordon, photography's power was realized very early into its life, and eventually became one of the most powerful and influential mediums of storytelling ever devised.
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