Those who know Calvin Alexander Ramsey best for his words will be pleasantly surprised by his exhibition of photographs, “Quest for Freedom,” now on display at the June Kelly Gallery until April 1. The photographs capture the remains of the community of Timbuctoo in North Elba, N.Y. Before the Civil War, abolitionist Gerrit Smith offered land and financing to Black families willing to brave the short growing season and harsh conditions of upstate New York. More than 100,000 acres of land were divided into 40 acre plots to create a community by and for Black Americans.
The multidisciplinary artist, best known as a playwright and author, has photographed that land and some of the remaining buildings and spaces in images that transport the viewer back in time and create appreciation for what those hardy pioneers must have encountered. The AmNews spoke with Ramsey about his project and his approach to visualizing history.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
AmNews: Tell us a little bit about how you approached this project as a photographer, trying to visualize history.
Ramsey: I went there not knowing I was going to approach it at all. I went there for the children’s book festival, and this was just in front of me, and it caught me off guard at first, because I was there signing books and under a tent. [I spent] a couple of days doing that, and then the environment, the history, sort of grabbed me. When my book duties were over, I walked the land.
I walked the graveyards; I walked the ponds; I walked the woods to have the area speak to me. Instead of just … snapping photographs, I read the tombstones of the babies who died, of the elderly people who died, of the women who died in childbirth, and the children who died in childbirth.
I approached it as if I was one of those settlers coming up from New York City and seeing this land for the first time.
AmNews: What do you feel the land told you? How did it communicate to you about the people who had inhabited it?
Ramsey: The Mohawk Indians were there first, but they supported England during the Revolutionary War, and they were driven off. They went further west, and some went into Canada. I could see that the trees were different. I could imagine the city folks going up there and getting that first frost, and realizing that they’re in for a long haul. Then seeing the grave sites — Blacks and whites buried together …
To me, the silence of the area [was meaningful] as well. It’s 250 acres. It’s quiet, above Lake Placid. I’ve been to other historical sites, in various places, but this one has a different feeling, because this was a white man who was out front and wanted to bring people out of slavery.
AmNews: What do you hope that the work says to those who have an opportunity to see it?
Ramsey: I see a parallel to what happened then with what is happening now. The Fugitive Slave Act is connected to the challenge to birthright citizenship and other things that are being challenged. The new settlers saw it as a place where they could have a new beginning. I hope my photographs are a way of showing just what the place looked like and what it stood for.
AmNews: How does photography fit into your artistic practice?
Ramsey: I’ve written children’s books, and I do plays, so I travel quite a bit. I was told some time ago by a photographer. that ‘Well, you got the eye.’ It’s been a learning experience, and photography is probably the easiest thing that I do.
I don’t write unless I do my research, so it’s very tedious. Theater is very tedious — rehearsing and the whole thing — actors, directors, and getting the set and the designs; all of that is very labor-intensive. Photography is the most relaxing thing that I do. I can take a photograph. I don’t like it, I can erase it, but it’s almost like a selfish treat. It’s almost like someone eating that extra slice of red velvet cake, but they shouldn’t have.
Photography is for me, and if people like it, I’m grateful, but it’s really for me — it’s like eye candy, I guess, in a way, but it also tells a story. Sometimes I need to take some pressure off my writing, my research, my rehearsals. You go to a different city, you’re dealing with a different director, you’re dealing with different actors, you’re dealing with a different theater setup. Some are to your liking, some are not.
You’re also dealing with all these egos, but it is only my ego involved in this and it’s pretty much straight from the heart, straight from the eye. It’s really a treat to myself, but I still try to tell a story. I don’t really just shoot to be shooting. It has to touch me in some kind of way before I put it out there.
“Quest for Freedom” is now on display at the June Kelly Gallery (166 Mercer Street in Manhattan) until April 1, Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Details: 212-226-1660.