Another photograph of the series of JP Ball’s studio, shows the actor Ray Fearon as Frederick Douglass. This photograph is modeled to an image that JP Ball made of Douglass in 1867. Frederick Douglass had a great interest in photography, he made many self-portraits which led him to be the most photographed man of the nineteenth century. His interest for photography was not only artistic, but also very political. By portraying himself he was able to write himself into history on his own terms. In this way he repictured the self against the pathological regime of stereotyping and of demanding stereotypes of African Americans.* In a lecture that is also included in the film, Douglass explains the political function of photographs by comparing the photograph with a ballad. Douglass states: “The picture and the ballad are alike, if not equally social forces, the one reaching and swaying the heart by the eye, and the other by the ear.“ Douglass’ philosophy of photography emphasizes the importance of photography as a medium, able to rearticulate its practice towards an emancipatory practice. This philosophy is also present in Isaac Julien’s practice. Julien uses the photography and the apparatus of the moving image as a vehicle that enables him to document certain struggles in a more immediate way.