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Photographic Returns: Racial Justice and the Temporal Power of the Image

"Photographic returns refer to the process where historical images resurface in the present to challenge racial hierarchies and demand justice. In her seminal work, Shawn Michelle Smith argues that photography does not merely record a finished past but acts as a disruptive temporal force that bridges historical traumas with contemporary social movements. The relationship between photography, racial justice, and time is not a linear progression from "then" to "now." Instead, it is a complex intersection where images from the past—often rooted in surveillance, scientific racism, or colonial violence—are reclaimed by contemporary artists and acti..."

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