When Life Gets in the Way of Art
The photographs of Ernest C. Withers — of the Little Rock integration battle, of the Emmett Till murder trial, of the aftermath of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — are among the most powerful records of the civil rights movement. They have lived on in dozens of books and museum collections.
But would these images be seen differently if the captions noted that Mr. Withers was known in some circles not by his name but by an Orwellian cipher, ME 338-R — the code used by the F.B.I. to identify him in the reports he filed for many years as a paid informer?
The revelation that he spied on the very leaders who gave him unequaled access to the movement’s inner workings, published this month by The Commercial Appeal in Memphis after a two-year investigation, has shocked many friends and admirers of Withers. He died in 2007 after a long, distinguished career that also included taking important images of Negro League baseball and of the pioneers of the blues.
But beyond issues of personal betrayal, the news raised much more difficult and fundamental questions — ones central to photography and documentary work but to the history of art and popular culture as well — about artistic intent, about the assumptions and expectations of the viewing public and about the relationship between artists and their work....
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But would these images be seen differently if the captions noted that Mr. Withers was known in some circles not by his name but by an Orwellian cipher, ME 338-R — the code used by the F.B.I. to identify him in the reports he filed for many years as a paid informer?
The revelation that he spied on the very leaders who gave him unequaled access to the movement’s inner workings, published this month by The Commercial Appeal in Memphis after a two-year investigation, has shocked many friends and admirers of Withers. He died in 2007 after a long, distinguished career that also included taking important images of Negro League baseball and of the pioneers of the blues.
But beyond issues of personal betrayal, the news raised much more difficult and fundamental questions — ones central to photography and documentary work but to the history of art and popular culture as well — about artistic intent, about the assumptions and expectations of the viewing public and about the relationship between artists and their work....