Michael Francis Blake Photographs, 1912-1934

117 photographs of men, women, and children taken between 1912-1934 by Blake who opened one of the first African-American photography studios in Charleston, S.C. More »

Browse all 117 Items
View the feature item
No known title mfb001
View the feature item
No known title mfb017

About the Digital Collection

The collection consists of the contents of a photographic album entitled "Portraits of Members," containing 117 photographs of men, women, and children, both singly and in groups. The album might have been used by clients in the studio to select the backdrop and props they wanted in their photographs. The majority of the subjects appear to be African-American. The photographs represent the work of Michael Francis Blake from the 1910s to his death in 1934.

Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info

From Our Blog

Resonance of a Moment

by Shadae Gatlin over 4 years ago

Resonance: the reinforcement or prolongation of sound by reflection from a surface or by the synchronous vibration of a neighboring object (Lexico, 2019) Nearly 4 months have passed since I moved to Durham from my hometown Chicago to join Duke's Digital Collections & Curation Services team. With feelings of reflection and nostalgia, I have been…