Harvard May Keep Slave Pictures | NOS

She sued because Renty was forced to collaborate with the photos and Harvard will treat the photos as research materials only. “It was an insulting act to prove that he was inferior to him,” Lanier explained.

It also blames the university for continuing to make money from pictures. So she demanded that the photos be handed over to her and demanded compensation.

A strong visual indictment

The judge admitted the case was sensitive and described the photos as “a strong visual indictment of the horrific slavery regime,” but could not keep up with the prosecution. In the United States, the image on the right is in the hand of the photographer and not with the person who was photographed. Moreover, the case has already passed the statute of limitations.

Lanier describes the statement as disappointing, but not unexpected. Plan to resume. Her lawyer wants a ruling in principle from the highest court, because this is not an ordinary portraiture rights case in his opinion. “If every photo had been taken this way – coerced and stripped as part of a horrific study – image rights would have been organized differently.”

Harvard said in response to the search for the best location for the photos “so that they are available to a wide audience and the stories of enslaved people can be told.”