Chilluns' Croon
Chilluns’ Croon is a recent project created by Mateo Ruiz González, in which the question about the remembrance of slavery is brought through the prism of the past (archives and history) and interwoven into the view of the present. Mateo is a photographer born in Bogota, Colombia, and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. With Chilluns’ Croon, Mateo brings to
the forth people, community, personal and collective memory in a powerful connection to physical places. The need to remember, discuss, and raise questions about the current state comes hand in hand with the hope for a more promising future. This hope emerges through the relationship of humans to nature, the possibility to take a step back to ponder and act.
Mateo explains that he likes “to think about this project as an intimate portrait of an African American community and, as the title stands, Chilluns’ Croon hums songs of hope, equality, and change for new generations.” In this conversation, we speak about the historical research and archives about the African American community dating from the 18th century to recent history, from slavery to segregation to building the new future. We discuss Mateo's approach to organizing the materials and creating a narrative, a thread that holds the images together while allowing them also to bring value as stand-alone. Mateo emphasizes the importance of raising awareness by linking the atrocities and events of the past to the current situation and memory. The project was a finalist in the 2022 Aperture Photo Prize, a runner-up for the OD Gallery Photo Prize 2022, and a finalist of the Verzasca Foto Festival 2022, among other nominations and awards.
‘Chilluns’ Croon investigates themes of the past, such as the absence, remembrance, spirituality, and mortality of formerly enslaved people of Wilson County, North Carolina.’
Chilluns’ Croon
Chilluns’ Croon investigates themes of the past, such as the absence, remembrance, spirituality, and mortality of formerly enslaved people of Wilson County, North Carolina. I like to think about this project as an intimate portrait of an African American community and, as the title stands, Chilluns’ Croon hums songs of hope, equality, and change for new generations.
The series is based on an archive of documents of genealogical and historical interest to researchers of Wilson County’s African American community. Curated by Lisa Y. Henderson, the archive, Black Wide-Awake, includes a range of files, from photographs, family diaries, and plantation records to newspaper clippings of obituaries, town crimes, and social events, among others. The archive files date from the mid-1700s, the times of slavery in the 1800s, the segregation era in the 1900s, and documents of new local activists seeking to restore and preserve their African American legacy.
Chilluns’ Croon incorporates old transcripts from the Federal Writers Project (FWP) featuring interviews with formerly enslaved African Americans. The compilation of documents reveals old spiritual beliefs and stories of love and loss from the time of slavery in the United States.
‘I wanted to create imagery capable of resembling past events in modern society. Quiet and loud images at the same time.’
Building The Story
For Chilluns’ Croon, my main goal was to create a group of images that acted as a whole strong body of work but also to have each individual image stand on its own as a visual recreation of a story from Lisa’s archive. Every single story has its own narrative, and they're all connected somehow.
I wanted to create imagery capable of resembling past events in modern society. Quiet and loud images at the same time. For this, I didn't think much about styling or act direction but focused on the research I did before the image-making process to find the right scenario for each photograph.
80% of the photographs were planned ahead based on the mood and content of the stories behind them. Working with content that is so relevant and so complicated at the same time demands you as an artist to be really thoughtful with everything you are bringing into the frame. For me, this project wasn't about just making beautiful photographs — aesthetically speaking, I wanted to create photographs filled with history capable of creating awareness towards these social issues.
‘I saw a man riding his horse in the middle of the road, so I chased him in my van, and when I finally was able to reach him at a street light, he kindly allowed me to make his portrait.’
The Key Image
The photograph of the man on the horse, Tracy After Work, is definitely one of the key photographs and portraits of the series. I was struggling with recreating a story about horses, how these animals were a symbol of power, and how enslaved people were not allowed to ride them. One afternoon I found Tracy while driving back home after a whole day of being outside shooting. I saw a man riding his horse in the middle of the road, so I chased him in my van, and when I finally was able to reach him at a street light, he kindly allowed me to make his portrait. This image represents everything this project is about, people's dreams and the desire to be better at heart.
‘I was looking to make a photograph about a story of the African queens that were bought to America during the first slave trade and how they used to carry corn snakes as protection against evil white men.’
I think it is also relevant to talk about the photos of the snakes. These photos were taken inside the old courthouse of town where a lot of racial injustice events took place. I was looking to make a photograph about a story of the African queens that were bought to America during the first slave trade and how they used to carry corn snakes as protection against evil white men. I was not having luck finding snakes in town until I went to the old courthouse building, which is now a children's museum, and to my surprise, I found they had a reptilarium. The images are just magical if you think about the story behind them and the place where these photographs were made.
