Daguerreotypist · Liberia
Augustus Washington
Augustus Washington (1820–1875) was an African American photographer who ran a daguerreotype studio in Hartford, Connecticut, where he made the earliest known portrait of the abolitionist John Brown. In 1853 he emigrated to Liberia, photographed its people and leaders, and became a farmer, newspaper editor and politician, serving in the legislature as Speaker of the House.
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Augustus Washington was born in 1820 in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of a formerly enslaved father. He entered Dartmouth College in 1843, the only African American student there, and, because money was short, learned the new technique of the daguerreotype; he left without a degree. In 1846 he opened a studio in Hartford, Connecticut, advertising in anti-slavery newspapers. Around 1846–47 he photographed John Brown, the abolitionist who would lead the raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, one hand raised as if taking an oath — the earliest known portrait of him. The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery bought the daguerreotype at auction in 1996, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City holds a separate quarter-plate copy stamped with the Hartford address.
Disillusioned by racism in the United States, Washington emigrated in 1853 to Liberia, the West African republic founded by formerly enslaved Americans. He continued to make daguerreotypes there and in neighbouring countries, portraying Liberia's leading citizens and politicians, before turning to farming, publishing and politics. He served in Liberia's legislature, as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1865 to 1869, and died in Monrovia on 7 June 1875.
His Liberian portraits are among the earliest photographs made in West Africa.
How to look at the John Brown daguerreotype: it is a unique plate, with no negative, so what you see is the surface Washington made; the raised hand, the flag and the steady gaze were arranged for the camera. Compare it with his portraits of Liberians to see how he treated sitters of every background with the same dignity. That reading is this site's own.
Where to see the work
The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City hold the John Brown daguerreotypes, and the Smithsonian magazine and Smarthistory have published articles on the portrait. Read African photography and see our list of African photographers.
