Farewell to the Past, Belle Grove Plantation

By the 1940s, many photographers had begun to take more expressive approaches to architecture. Clarence John Laughlin used abandoned plantations along the Mississippi River as backdrops for his haunted scenes. Here, the ghostly presence of a female figure draped in black hovers amidst the dilapidated interior of Belle Grove—one of the largest pre-Civil War Louisiana plantation homes. This house fell into ruin in the 20th century and was largely destroyed by fire only a few years after this picture was taken.

An architectural photographer by training, Laughlin found the decay of Belle Grove’s elaborate plasterwork a poignant setting for his vision. Yet, his was a decidedly romanticized vision of the past, one which referenced a former grandeur but did not acknowledge the slave economy that produced and supported it.