Jake Rambles n'at

Fault Lines: Art, Imperialism, and the Atlantic World

Pulling together an exhibition that attempts to point the visitor to, as curator Dr. Marie-Stephanie Delamaire states it, "...where art and historical records meet and, at times, [run] against one another."

5 Buttons painted with West Indian imagery, attributed to Agostino Brunias. Seen as "luxury fashion accessories" in France, works like these were done to promote the romanticized "happy slave" narrative in imperial nations.

5 Buttons detail

The exhibition highlights not just the works themselves, but couches them in their larger context of colonialism and material extraction, and the revolutions that wracked those imperial outposts, especially in the Caribbean.

Toussaint Louverture, by Marcus Rainsford; John Barlow, engraver (1848).

Portraits like this were forbidden in colonies beyond Haiti out of fear that even a picture of Louverture would promote slave uprisings.

Toussaint Louverture detail.

Some of the works are recognizable from art history books, like this one:

The Toilette, by William Hogarth (1745), engraved by Simon Ravenet, where Hogarth "lampooned the alliance between the old English aristocracy and [the] newly monied class..." But being able to see the piece up close and personal left me wondering

what is this dude doing with his hair?! I thought it was Yankee Doodle sticking a feather in his cap to look macaroni, but apparently feathers in general are a thing? Go figure.

Along with recognizable art, Dr. Delamaire also shows works created within the colonized world, such as this portrait by an unknown artist:

Francis Williams, the Scholar of Jamaica (circa 1760). Representing Williams "as an active participant in the Atlantic culture of science and refinement of Enlightenment," a direct challenge to the "white planter elite."

Francis Williams detail. According to the exhibit's gallery guide, it's possible he commissioned the portrait "to commemorate the mathematically anticipated return of Halley's Comet," in 1759-60, a subject he was familiar with from his studies at Cambridge.

And:

Marianne Celeste Dragon (or Dracos) circa 1795, attributed to Jose Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza. Salazar trained in Mexico City, but worked in New Orleans in the late 1700s, painting the city's prominent residents.

Highlighted, too, are the kinds of personal effects, consumer items we'd call them now, that the colonial Atlantic made possible:

Coffeepot, sugar bowl, box for tea caddy, tobacco grater, comb and its case

"The importation of tea from Asia...the production of sugar, coffee, tobacco and chocolate by enslaved labor...transformed European societies...They gave rise to new social institutions, such as coffee houses and tea gardens...the Atlantic trade created an influx of luxury materials such as ivory, tortoiseshell, and precious metals."

Comb in tortoiseshell, late 17th C Jamaica. The colonial Atlantic world spawned a movement of people, ideas, materials, and finished goods and wealth, as well as "a new monied class ready to consume them."

"...works of art bear witness to their creators' roles in the circuits of the Atlantic, making them visible...Willingly and unwillingly [they] left traces of ambivalent attitudes and active resistance against the violence of Atlantic societies. Evidence of anticolonial agency and rebellion is not always directly apparent in the work of art. We often have to look to archives and other primary sources to reconstruct plausible pathways or reimagine the destinies of people involved in artistic creation."

Photos: R. Jake Wood, 2025

Quoted from gallery guide; Fault Lines: Art, Imperialism, and the Atlantic World was organized by Dr. Marie-Stephanie Delamaire, curator of European and American Art, Carnegie Museum of Art.

Cardinal at a rest stop.

Westbound on I-70 was on a hot Tuesday, and it seemed like I was in denser traffic than usual. One slow vehicle bottlenecked three lanes of traffic for, like, 30 miles west of Columbus OH, and I had to marvel at that. Anyway.

In the face of what I wrote about the eastbound trip, and the motorcycle incident, I do sometimes point the camera on the road: just blindly aim and snap the shutter at something seen beyond the car. Safe? No, honestly, probably not the most safe thing I could do, but I try to justify it by only doing so when other traffic is at a distance (which means sometimes I don't take the picture). Not much of a justification, is it?

But it is a crazy impulse to attempt to capture scenes that won't be photographed otherwise--at least not by me. Highways aren't designed for one to just pull off and get out of the car.

And a lot of times, how I'm holding the camera results in a crazy angle, or I didn't actually have it aimed at my desired subject; sometimes what is recorded in 2D just doesn't reflect what I see.

Then, sometimes the image looks OK.

When a rest area is available, I'll take advantage of that, too.

"Whee! I'm a cloud!"

As before, another trip to Pittsburgh (at least I'm going somewhere) and yet again, another tie-up on I-70. Above the brakelights flash as traffic suddenly comes to a halt a few miles shy of Dayton, OH.

As the lanes bunched up, a fairly new trailer passed slowly on my right, featuring the brand of Indiana's own Wabash National. Sirens sounding and emergency vehicles on the shoulders indicated that something big had happened. After about 20 minutes, I turned my engine off: it was becoming clear that no one was going any farther any time soon.

A half hour in, and I got out of the car with the camera, and could see that I was about a quarter mile back from--whatever had happened. An older trucker (with a very new headset) was also ambling about, getting a stretch; he told me that radio chatter concerned someone on a motorcycle who, roaring between the lanes at 80 or 90 MPH had collided with the back of a truck.

Bits and pieces of motorcycle litter the left lane and shoulder in the distance.

Other people had alighted by the 45 minute mark, including a few other motorcyclists who, having parked their bikes, were hanging out in the shade. What surprised me was how few people climbed out; apparently most were content to sit.

I was also impressed with the sheer number of semi-trucks; they're often in abundance, but this day they far outnumbered the autos.

After an hour and fifteen or twenty minutes, the jam finally moved; three lanes squeezed down onto the right shoulder to pass by the site of the incident.

An web search for the incident returned quite a number of motorcycle accidents besides, which should serve as a grim reminder that while traveling on America's Roads and Highways may be commonplace, so are injuries and deaths. We can far too easily take for granted our employment of automotive technology, and far too easily believe that we're going to be OK when we get behind the wheel; after all, we've done it so many times before, right?

Most of the emergency trucks were gone as we were allowed to pass by, but a few responders remained, standing by as the on-scene investigation wound down.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report of April of this year, traffic related deaths were down for 2024 compared to 2023, but that statistic was still 39,345. Compared to the overall population of over 300 million it's kinda' small I guess, but that still represents almost 40,000 people "who are no longer with us."

I'm not an social anthropologist, I don't even play one on TV, but watching daily traffic on my local streets, and having logged some miles on the interstates, my observation is that too many of my fellow drivers don't seem to grasp that they are among other, real people. Speed limits are ignored, traffic signs and signals are mere annoyances, and it looks rather like "it's all about me" is the rule. Just going to work I often think of those whizzing by me "If you're afraid you're going to be late you should start your commute earlier!"

Maybe I've slowed down some because I've gotten older, or maybe it's because I've realized that saving a couple seconds right now doesn't mean much when there's a red light up ahead -- maybe one needs to gain a few years to have that realization; whatever, the last several years, while putting my foot down still has a thrill to it, I'm generally much more interested in arriving safely at my destination than getting it over on the other guy on the road.

I wonder if anyone will put flowers on the road for this guy.

Truck and trailer traffic on I-70, some of which traffic is a truck hauling two more trucks.

It's been a while since -- long story -- but a weekend trip to Pittsburgh (like I do) did result in a few photos.

For instance: if you're just driving by, you can catch a quick glimpse of your next truck! Or excavation equipment! Big, small, and nearly anything in between!

Not sure which area, but that trailer is it maybe, or it's going there, I guess. In the westbound lanes you can see a truck full of mail.

A construction project in Columbus that -- I thought would have been done by now; it's been in progress for some time. Elevated roadways and flyovers leading to elevated streets on the south side of downtown.

Zanesville: stay on target! Stay on target!

Dave's Guns!

The Cardinal Power Plant, near Brilliant, OH on the Ohio River: a 21st Century Romantic image -- sublime in the beauty, and the terror of all that comes with coal-fired power.

I most often take Ohio Hwy 7 north off of I-70 to pass Weirton, WV on the way to Pittsburgh; I like driving through the Ohio Valley, and I like missing traveling on I-79 between Washington, PA and Pittsburgh. The trip up OH 7 serves this view, and I've taken similar shots in the past 'cause I appreciate the contrast -- it's just so America.

Westbound a couple days later included rain, which mostly precluded shooting, but I did a few.

Like this encapsulation of the United States:

Shortly after that came the slow traffic. I thought it was because of road work (orange cone season is most any time these days) but it was because of a wreck. Somehow a tractor trailer got smashed, littering the roadway with food cans.

Drawing up to the recovery area, I saw food cans scattered beyond the shoulder, then saw a skip loader shoveling cans off the highway:

into one of two (or more) roll-off dumpsters; there was another dumpster still on its truck, and I've no knowing if there was a dumpster before this one.

The trailer looked like something exploded -- and threw cans all over the place:

how that happens? Someone might have an idea, but I don't. Though it's hard to discern, some three-quarters of the trailer is still loaded with canned food.

And about two hours later, the clouds let up:

at least enough to look kinda' pretty.

"Though Indiana’s Parke County proclaims itself the 'Covered Bridge Capital of the World,' nearby Putnam County proudly holds runner-up status with nine covered bridges carrying traffic over the area’s waterways.

Putnam County's Houck Bridge in 2022 (R. Jake Wood).

The picturesque spans are beloved and admired for their heritage and character-defining features, but their path to official recognition remained elusive until Indiana Landmarks partnered with two local groups to nominate all nine covered bridges to the National Register of Historic Places."

"Where all my friends reside ha! ha!" notes "E.M.Q" on a picture postcard of the Ohio State Reformatory.

Peering through the gate down the front drive.

The Ohio State Reformatory, Mansfield, OH. Some History, and the Residence.

Guests were told on tour that the Ohio State Reformatory building may very well owe its extended existence to director Frank Darabont, who arrived in the nick of time to prevent the institution's destruction.

The south facade of the Ohio State Reformatory at Mansfield, OH.

Preparing to film an adaptation of Stephen King's novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," six months of location scouting culminated with the Ohio Film Commission pleading the case to Darabont at a convention for the production to come to Mansfield, OH, about 60 miles southwest of Cleveland. The building (built between 1886 and 1910) had been constructed to serve as a place to bring wayward young men back to the straight-and-narrow, but by the 1970s had fallen into disrepair.

High-minded architecture (above and below) was considered part of the moral uplift project.

Budget concerns had the state shifting the focus from reform to straight-up incarceration, and as prison populations grew in Ohio, Mansfield's facility was switched during the 1960s away from reform to maximum security.

The looming walls and barred windows of the housing section.

Inmates sued and won against the state for deplorable conditions, and it was ruled that the state had to provide better. Ironically, more money was taken from the decrepit Mansfield building while a newer facility was built adjacent.

A hallway in the residential/administrative wing: as was customary when built, the warden and his family as well as most of the corrections officers lived on-site. Today, in addition to visitor services and offices, there is also the official Ohio penitentiary museum, a cafe, and the ubiquitous gift shop (I bought a pair of trays like they used in the mess hall scenes - because of course I did).

Stained glass transom light in the residence hallway.

So the story is, after the inmates were moved to the new facility, and after Ohio and Castle Rock Entertainment had swung a deal for filming within the Reformatory, there was an apparent goof in the chain of command; arriving by rental car after flying in from Hollywood, director Darabont showed up on the grounds just before state contractors were to begin swinging their wrecking balls. Darabont's stepping in at that moment halted the demolition, and allowed the filming to proceed.

The warden's dining room in the residence.

As the saying goes, the rest is (film) history. Utilizing many of the rooms around the residence as well as filming out on the yard, Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption is on many "best" lists. Locations in Mansfield and the surrounding Ohio countryside subbed-in for the surrounding Maine environment.

Reception area outside the office used for Warden Norton in the film.

Subsequent to the movie (which was not a "hit" upon release) there was still debate about keeping the old prison, but a local non-profit, the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society, organized itself and began to stir up interest (and funding) to restore what many had thought to be a relic and an eye-sore. Who would tour an old prison?! Turns out, quite a number of people do, all the more so as Shawshank's reputation grew.

The residence after restoration; as much as possible, the original materials are retained; the floor, for instance, is original throughout.

As with many old buildings under the auspices of non-profits, work is by and large volunteer and on-going, and depends on subscription and tour fee monies for funding projects. Chatting with a docent about the work, done by people with passion for their jobs in his estimation, he told me that the society has over a million dollars lined up to restore one cell wing to its condition circa 1940. I'll admit my eyes went wide thinking of all the layers of lead paint that would need to be abated to do that -- 'cause the peeling walls are a nightmare.

A typical scene: missing plaster and decaying paint in a washroom.

Looking back up the main drive.

What remains after filming is the main structure; the "yard," where once stood the workshops surrounded by a 25 foot-high wall and agricultural fields beyond, were razed when the new Mansfield facility was constructed. There are no photos allowed that depict the new facility, even if through a window.

The yard: north of the main building (highlighted above) in this undated aerial shot (Ohio History Connection collection).

As part of the reform movement, the young men were expected to take part in what today would be called vocational training (they built furniture, for instance) as well as arts (there was a band), and agriculture (the incarcerated grew most of their own food and any surplus was sold). Many went on to lead fairly good lives after getting the equivalent of a high school education, and the recidivism rate was reported to be something like 25% or less -- compared to 50% or worse for other institutions. Not bad for the first half of the 20th Century.

Photos: R. Jake Wood, 2024 unless otherwise noted.

The Ohio State Reformatory site.

The Ohio State Reformatory, Mansfield OH: Random Photographs

Swept, but still a work in progress: upper floor of the residence/administration block.

Over the years, the reformatory has been left abandoned, with vandalism and weather taking a toll on the structure.

The current condition of the building demonstrates the determination of the preservation society and its volunteers. Though the photo above might seem to belie any such determination, imagine for a moment that this stairwell had never been swept, never had the fallen plaster removed -- it would likely not be passable.

As with many projects to save old buildings, the roof has been repaired or replaced, and some measure of airflow introduced to keep (as much as possible) pipes from freezing and bursting, and humidity from further deteriorating the structure.

The west attic ceiling; don't think it was built like that.

The Ohio State Reformatory, Mansfield, OH. Cell Blocks and (a little about) The Movie

Today, several tour options are available. Self-guided tours allow for views of portions, "Behind the Bars" takes visitors to yet other places (needing more supervision from docents) and at least one is focused on the rooms used during filming of The Shawshank Redemption.

The admonition pictured above is announced because the locks on the cell doors may very well still work. The guide I followed explained that if a visitor does close a door behind them and it locks a locksmith will need to be called in to get them out. The locksmith will arrive from Columbus (also about 60 miles away) in their own sweet time, and after "springing" the visitor, hand that visitor a bill to the tune of $1,500.00. Tours are also conveyed with two docents: one at the front, leading the way, and one at the rear, making sure no one is left behind as gates are locked, which has happened.

The chapel (above) and one of the hospital wards (following)

Another admonition was to not eat the paint. Someone, an adult no less, once pulled a piece of paint off the wall, announced "Potato chip!" and stuck it in his mouth -- to the horror of the assembled guests.

The Attic: once home to over 200 "hardened felons" following a fire at the main Ohio Penitentiary in 1930 that necessitated their re-location. Guests were invited to search the walls for the scribblings left behind.

Part of the basement.

There is no official record of anything untoward happening in the basement, but anecdote points to darker events. Stories told by ex-inmates are of prisoners being tied up in what today would be called "stress positions" for hours on end, and of "the Hole." The Hole was, it seems, about six feet square and fourteen feet deep, and was used to discipline any inmate said to have crossed the staff. Once dropped in, an inmate (or even two!) would be left for days, with only a tin cup of water and a small plate of gruel to eat. The state says such a hole is not noted on any plans, and nothing to indicate such ever existed (and certainly no record of anything that might be termed "torture"). What remains in the basement, coupled with the words of those who were in the prison, leads many to believe the stories.

No, there is no hole remaining, only a curiously different slab of concrete in the floor, along with obvious signs in the architecture that something existed once upon a time.

Views of the tiers in (if I remember correctly) the East Block.

The current residents include swallows, for whom the reformatory must provide plenty of nesting places.

Looking down a tier in the West Block.

A typical West Block cell, more-or-less as it was -- in the 80s I suppose.

While many of the extant reformatory rooms were used while filming Shawshank, the all-important cell block scenes were filmed elsewhere in Mansfield. Though the cell blocks in the reformatory provided the inspiration for the look and feel -- and reportedly the emotional feeling of the place -- the extant cells themselves were simply too small to allow for actors and crew to shoot within. Instead, the cell block in the movie was built to spec in an abandoned factory, and filled with extras, many of whom were local.

Film still of the cell block (Warner Bros.; web).

Capitalizing on the film's growing success, among other things a visitor can see are:

the tunnel Tim Robbins' Andy Dufresne dug through the prison wall (above) and the "pipe" Dufresne crawled through on his way out (below)

"... 500 yards of shit-smelling foulness I can't even imagine..." (Warner Bros.; web)

both of which were built to allow for the camera pulls needed in the action, and neither of which were actually attached to anything; the wall beyond the hole in Dufresne's cell is only a wall -- there is no real cell surrounding it! The sewer pipe Robbins crawled in was built as a free-standing unit, and the water doctored with chocolate syrup and oatmeal for, um, texture.

I had (as others have) wondered about that service way beyond Dufresne's cell, but at Mansfield, that such an access in the architecture existed can be seen between the cells:

gated at either end, but allowing for work on the "wet" works to the lavatories and toilets.

Of course, other scenes can be remembered. The room where Morgan Freeman's "Red" is interviewed at parole hearings appears much as it was in the movie:

including some props for the parole board, and the room dressed to appear as the half-way house where Brooks and Red were sent after release -- complete with Brooks cutout by the window (following):

and of course I did the "selfie thing:"

The reformatory society has, in addition to the tours of the building, identified many of the other locations around Mansfield and beyond that were used during filming, allowing fans to glean just a little more of the history (and take selfies I'm sure). The only exception is the location of the final scene: Zihuatanejo, Mexico, is actually in a wildlife refuge on St. Croix island in the Caribbean. On their web page, the directions indicate "hop on a plane!"

Visitation to the reformatory, in the largest part due to the fandom for Shawshank, has grown from a few thousands in the first years to over a hundred thousand a year.

An antique store now, this building was dressed as a pawn shop for the movie (Google Streetview).

Photos: R. Jake Wood, 2024, unless otherwise noted.

The Ohio State Reformatory site.

UNFI Better Food Better Future (web)

Saw one of these trucks the other day near Columbus, OH, and the name, slogan, and font choice had me thinking of this:

UNORTH we grow your world together (Warner Bros.) (web).

UNorth, from Michael Clayton, which is probably not what UNFI had in mind.

MIND I have no idea what their long-term goals are, but you can visit their website and decide for yourself.

Yours truly doing the "selfie" thing while touring the old Ohio State Reformatory -- site for some of the filming of The Shawshank Redemption which was (what?!) 30 years ago.

R. Jake Wood, 2024

Driving around Kankakee Sands on a pleasant Sunday afternoon.

Random shots (above) and a pipe sticking out of the ground:

which apparently isn't connected to anything any longer:

but is apparently part of a nation wide cable network, at least according to the sign, I guess?

R. Jake Wood, 2024.

Whoa! deer!

Driving around Kankakee Sands on a pleasant Sunday afternoon.

Made a left turn, and there stood a young buck. After scrabbling to get my camera, the deer moved -- 'cause of course it did.

Putting the camera to auto, I kept pointing as the deer bounded across the road in front of me. Of course, I wasn't pointing it quite the right way, as can be seen here, in the best shot I got of the deer before the car:

But the deer bouncing across the prairie, "in-action" shots, were worth it.

R. Jake Wood, 2024.

Bison on the restored prairie, with a Contemporary America shot included: Buried Fiber Optic Cable and (presumbed) Bull.

Kankakee Sands Bison: an unseasonably warm Sunday prompts a drive to see if the buffalo could be seen--and they could!

Strung out in a raggedy, quarter-mile long line, the bison were cropping the grass at the south end of the pasture.

No-where near the official viewing area.

R. Jake Wood, 2024.

The Nature Conservancy: Kankakee Sands.

Kankakee Sands: not bison. Random shots from along a country road through the preserve.

R. Jake Wood, 2024.

The Nature Conservancy: Kankakee Sands.

A morning visit to Shades State Park.

There have been many a day, in the middle of the work week, when my comment was "Be a good day to visit a state park," but the weekend wasn't so amenable. Then came a Saturday that was forecast to be decent (if chilly in the morning), so I headed down.

The lower angle of the mid-Autumn light leaves the defiles in shadow much of the day, and the air remains much cooler under the multi-colored canopy.

As usually happens in Shades or near-by Turkey Run State Park, I find myself shooting vertically, to capture an impression of the height of the wood or the rock faces.

Looking down on Sugar Creek from Prospect Point (above) and Canoe Island. A viewing platform has been cantilevered over the rim of the valley to afford the scene beyond the trees. Though not designated as a wilderness preserve, the casual visitor is not allowed on the north side of the creek (below, rising in the distance):

I believe the usual story is that the ravines were carved over thousands of years by the flow of water from the higher prairies. I've wondered, though, if the ravines at Shades and also at Turkey Run (among other places), were initially scored through the landscape by glacial outwash, but that's me.

In addition to the "big picture" images, I also like to capture some of the smaller details, as with these two.

Park management is as might be expected: pack out your trash; take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints; deadfall is left to decay. Where a tree has fallen across a trail (and they do), the trunk may be cut away to allow for foot traffic, leaving the rest of the tree to lay where it dropped; in some places, a walker must clamber over, or (below, in the background) go underneath:

underneath as the trail really is the stream bed. In places, the bottom of the ravine is wide enough to allow options other than the stream itself, but often the only place wide enough is right where the water runs.

And as usual, I found myself amused that other visitors seemed to have no idea what to expect from the trail conditions.

At the creek's edge: on a rocky shingle of Sugar Creek where the ambient air temperature was a good 10 degrees warmer.

Photos: R. Jake Wood, 2023

Shades State Park