Reflections on Photography and Race in Kym Ragusa's The Skin Between Us

Kym Ragusa's The Skin Between Us: A Memoir of Race, Beauty, and Belonging (2006) opens not with text but with an image.1 Even before the title page, there is a photograph of the author with her grandmothers, Italian American Gilda on the left and African American Miriam in the center. Descriptions of photographic images recur throughout the memoir, which, as Teresa Fiore (2017) has written, “could be read as a narrated family photo album” (59). Given that Ragusa is a documentary filmmaker whose works include the short films Demarcations (1991), Blood of my Blood (1995), Passing (1996), and fuori/outside (1997), it is not all that surprising that her writing is relentlessly visual.2 However, the specific role of photography in her memoir has yet to be explored in depth. In this article, I will consider the key role that photographic images play in Ragusa's engaging text and how literary discourse and photography are inseparable for her. In crafting her memoir, Ragusa writes about how, as the daughter of an Italian American father and an African American mother, she was frequently erased in family stories and memories. Her Italian American family in particular struggles to accept her hybrid identity as an Italian-African-American and uses her light complexion—her ability to pass as white—as a kind of license to repress or efface her Blackness. Because vision is fundamental to racism, which rests especially on prejudices attached to skin color, photographs are key for Ragusa, who makes use of them in her memoir to challenge her readers to see past a monolithic, reductive, and dichotomic categorization of people into the color-coded categories of black and white. Moreover, I argue that Ragusa, as the subject who is all too often erased in her family's narratives of its history and identity, is also drawn to photographic images in part because they constitute a form of documentary evidence; they testify to the existence of what Roland Barthes called in Camera Lucida the “that-has-been” or the photographed subject.3 Yet, in line with Susan Sontag's warnings about the “presumption of veracity” (2005, 4) that is so often leant to photography, Ragusa seeks to make her readers ever more conscious of how they might cancel the that-has-been with their own biases, prejudices, and cultural conditioning, or what Barthes refers to as the “studium.” Thus, as Ragusa seeks to counter the effacing power of racism, photography's capacity to document the that-has-been—the existence and appearance of both the self and the other—becomes key to her literary attempt to preserve some semblance of the agency of the individuals she depicts in her memoir. In the following pages, I will first examine the central role that sight plays in Ragusa's depiction of race and racism before turning my attention to the author's critique of racism as a logic based on a false binary of black and white. I will then consider how Ragusa, like Barthes, views photographs as a kind of “shared skin” and uses them to contest a racial dichotomy. In place of binaries, Ragusa instead posits a vision of self, other, and story that emphasizes connection over division and that insists on respecting and restoring the agency of the other, even those who have long since passed away.From the earliest pages of her memoir, Ragusa is clear that a core facet of race and of her own hybrid identity is visual: “My skin, light or dark depending on who's looking. What are you? people have asked me for as long as I can remember. In Italy, people ask me Di dove sei? Where are you from?” In challenging us to consider the important role in Ragusa's memoir of the other senses besides sight—specifically hearing—John Gennari (2015) nevertheless reminds us that race “remains deeply implicated in the realms of visuality” (39).4 He points in particular to Michael Bull and Les Back (2016), who, in a discussion of race and sound, likewise acknowledge: “Racism is a discourse of power that largely thinks with its eyes. The idea of race, itself a product of history rather than nature, is a categorical mode of thinking that anchors human difference in the visible. Variegations in humankind are organized into color-coded containers of identity. The power of racial thinking lay in its capacity to shroud [its] social construction in a seemingly ‘matter of fact’ natural authority. It would be impossible to think about this history of racism without its scopic component” (16). So it is in The Skin Between Us, where race is a construct that the author repeatedly links to vision. For example, Ragusa records a memory from when she was thirteen years old, helping Miriam, her African American grandmother, to unload “groceries from a couple of paper shopping bags. [Miriam] held one of the bags against her face. In Pittsburgh,” she said, referring to her native city, “there were parties where you couldn't get in if skin was than this in Ragusa a with her Italian American and some other in the In the one of the with them over and and the her. her Ragusa how and to that her is the and her as her my dark in this appearance is and racial categorization rests on as it is a this in the the a and Ragusa she that who and what I kind of to accept Kym as both and Italian in The Skin Between and is the core that this memoir for example, is the of a memory Ragusa of her Italian American grandmother, which is with vision. The who was years the on the of the family in with her grandmother, their in this is that as Ragusa this because she not see her what Gilda not see is her Blackness. from the Kym was a Gilda to accept her identity as a hybrid Italian and so as to that she was in her to the family as to Gilda her but as her light skin her to pass for an Italian American to accept that her can be both Italian American and African American as the author in a with how race is in in dichotomic her documentary which this with Ragusa that the with the binary of black and in capacity for and of race as a she for or even a of what she with the this capacity is ability a a a to see what they to her to one the that is her to one family and to one the of the with this racial Gilda a kind of of the she also a long history of Italian American and racial It is important to as has that all the racial that in years the they were as and the that with this Italian in the and of and the of even without this racial a like and the of those from the of the more is the that were too an for throughout the and this the and of place in in when an on the of in one place in as as and is the use of the racial which was to African and of is with this history and with the in which so Italian to the of in the in the the author think that Italian the on that to with other was to in has that all Italian in the without a about its they that to be the ability to of and and to social and a other of this that dichotomic vision of race is and cultural as is the of her In this Gilda that which is a history of and It is this and that Ragusa in her memoir as she seeks to her as an African American and as an Italian her own of family identity, and racism with its in the Ragusa to photographic images to a that the of with the to the agency of the self and I argue that photographs are for the author for the in which they as a kind of documentary of what Barthes in Camera Lucida as the the subject of a photographic Barthes that the that-has-been is the or the of photography, which it from other like It is often that it was the who I it was the For the was on the when a that were to it to and the a The photograph is an of the a which was which who the of the is the photograph of the as will me like the of a for Barthes, photography the and its subject more than ever for where the is the the photograph is the product of to the light from the photographed is not to the in which photography is the of the or the of the points are key for Ragusa, and I will them in more However, it is also that the photographic the not without its subject that In this as Barthes in with images of the photograph the existence of that which has In this Barthes in and an photograph of a to the Barthes The is for the I see has a that has not so from and this not but a of it is the past which is in the I for a long a photograph I of a which a the in a the in I a not a or for my and my as a from that there was a that a not a of but of the was the was without the without in I will not with Barthes, that photographs it is clear that images as documentary of the of the of and of the individuals who were subject to this and form of is key for Ragusa, who seeks to counter both the of her of the of her and her Italian American family's of its own history of racial this is of in or from Ragusa's it is about a and an agency that the author to contest an and its It is for this that Ragusa in photographs not a of the existence of the self and other but also a of the agency of the photographed an agency that she seeks to in her own literary a photograph has the power to document the of an or an like as Barthes it is a to that it an or of the subject it as Ragusa Susan this photography's documentary capacity and the “presumption of veracity” that a might to a photograph as a there is a in which the not she are as an of the as and when the of photographs is or not the of the the photographic is photography's its the or power of the of photography's ability to also be of an of a photograph as documentary when what is photographed is the of the and the and of for Ragusa, is as important as the for she in the of to counter not narratives of race, but also her own prejudices, and biases, which their of in that the author her identity, and In so Ragusa's memoir the and racism that in on in of the will Ragusa is in photography's ability to document the existence of a photographed and in the agency of this clear in a a over The Skin Between Ragusa of photographs from when I was and to the her In with of Ragusa pages of her that her from the she was in the in to when she was in in where she with her Italian American family who there as a of the from the Ragusa's use of as points a kind of of the that have and the of a Ragusa because and ask her for ask her for some documentary that my It is the first of images that as a key to Ragusa's on the author that this first my have when I was one of those old, black and photo there are to a but this is the one in the on the to be for the to get my and not the of my into the and my dark are is in from of my like I this or who was for me the and my The on the photograph has my is and part of the is the the of my the of an in a The of the are and and it into a black if my against It is as if the that I was is before my eyes. of not to the story the I was where I who was there with there is a that against all those A my into the of the own this and the of or that to the the of what is or in the Ragusa and or that face. own The author and her the that the that-has-been which she her of the that Ragusa the a on her the author in the of and she to be In this the photographed subject as a for Ragusa of the agency of the the author that photography, like other is In she that it is impossible the story the as this an of the memoir that key of the author's in particular her family's in to the Ragusa in other that her memoir is of a to the is left when memory and photographs It is in writing her of that Ragusa her agency and her own of is for the her agency and of the of what has and is it to against the of the self, of her of of a self that is is not to the of memory and documentary but also to the that she a identity of which her own family is “My skin Ragusa on her and was too light or too a to this of her Italian American and African American Ragusa seeks a fundamental of self, her which she to her own In it clear that The Skin Between Ragusa's of her as an Italian-African-American to and family as she from her her identity that is all too often In her vision and and attention to the Ragusa reminds her readers to be to the agency of the other whose story can be in even in a Thus, where the vision and Ragusa her readers to and with them her vision of a that both her Italian American and African American turning to a specific of this from the it is in this of race in with Ragusa be as her readers to a of what Barthes refers to as the or those cultural that a of a The Barthes is It is that I in so I them as or them as for it is is in that I in the the the the the In other as the cultural that of a Barthes an of a in of a family this which as points with a how a of a photograph can the photographed is a family of American writes Barthes referring to is I as a cultural in what the photograph has to for it it family an of social in to the of its in as the that not attention to the as that all the cultural that to of that this kind of racism to make her readers ever more conscious of the or that they to an In The Skin Between Us, she her readers to be of a and racial she instead them to more to see past and to instead to that which all individuals in of this in the first which opens with a kind of of a photograph of Ragusa with her that the memoir. The author's of this is for it black and white. In the on than a before both Gilda and Miriam passed Ragusa (2006) have the skin is the that this has skin like paper left in the a of even even not all that on us like a The skin a a a and The skin us that us and us against the on The skin A were us and there would be of but in the photograph all that is held are held a light and a and makes this which the title page, is in the in black and white. this is to a or an in this photograph Ragusa is in the of her skin and those of her are and also all that is instead with the in which is as the of categories of racial division and Ragusa, who is conscious of the in which skin is fundamental to racism, is challenging her readers to see black and to see a to her and her and has the is an the is a the is and the skin that is the skin that The is that of of a of her Ragusa not a clear of a grandmother, a grandmother, and a with their that the author as and yet in the as hybrid as the The the that us to see skin as a of an us instead to see skin as a of a that she with her throughout her memoir, Ragusa repeatedly to the in which and are and an for grandmother, the was African American and her was mother, was from the of a of African and and like a her to I will with a the of a the Ragusa repeatedly the of the people of Italy, challenging and In the for example, Ragusa how she to with the people of because she them as “My Italian those who from and those who from the of were a whose their to In the of Italian to see in this not not when I the of the people I my and I my of both her Italian American and African American and Ragusa her to the photograph and not see black and but rather that are both and and not of or but rather of and In this the author their skin as the in this might the the it is an of her it is this identity that Ragusa writes into family stories and narratives so as to her own for Barthes, photographs constitute a “shared skin” for the in which the of photography links the that-has-been to the of links the of the photographed to my is a a skin I with who has For Ragusa, photography a which she can and her vision of skin as a of what is to contest not the of but the and color-coded categories on which racism itself is In this as points Ragusa's memoir is a to what as a core of racism to us and them to in its Ragusa is deeply of the power of this kind of binary thinking to individuals and that are more than racism would have us Ragusa's own agency the of The Skin Between Us, it is important to in her with she and attention to the agency of the other individuals she depicts in her memoir as she can for the other, the author her readers to consider that the and whose stories she were not but who be as as as is as I will in this on agency and the author so as to challenge or clear self and of this in Ragusa's of the passed of in her African American of the was in the on a which she with the of the and the father of her there is photograph of and in this an of her. are photographs of the author were ever Miriam an of her based on her memory of her as a a in a long in a on the of a in has over the years like a passed on from one to a of and even as is the on which the of family history I her in the the years I would ask Miriam to me about to who she Miriam of the the not as an but as she would me if to the of In the the I the in her. are clear and even are some kind of what about What she What she have her over the her to the of a of So I I her in which Ragusa seeks to or preserve agency is in the of this as the author her readers to think of not as a who was but as a who and since can and of Ragusa as her for yet the author us to her as a who one and this is Ragusa insists on thinking of in photograph of her Ragusa's photograph from the photo was to the or the that-has-been that is her own self and the author to images to a of an agency which she can then of this a of when consider that Ragusa is not to story her as an and not as an she that story is her story as is the on which the of family history Ragusa's of her own identity and that of her family make in other when read in the of In this story is also and that of the other in her family who the passed the like a The author this in her with in when she family memory as that is a a a in a I that it is as memory not to one to the who the because also those who a have a memory of it that to so that there is a memory that you a that it is will in that to the to the memory is is important to that stories are in Ragusa's they as they are and passed In this family stories can be of as the that are and in the Ragusa that she to preserve her and even when the they are because stories her identity as me me I those For me they are not to the I them because they are the because they me who I In it clear for Ragusa, there is or subject or the self, the other, and their stories in a because the story also the The author not black and but also self and In The Skin Between Us, family stories like that of are not and but also the of to in stories a in which her own identity can be of in us to Ragusa's literary In her to the that is her family's story of Ragusa seeks to narratives so that they the agency of the individuals they the difference they Ragusa in thinking of in she might her story as a kind of with the that-has-been in to preserve some of the agency of this whose and and to the and of her Ragusa, this capacity of to the agency of the other is so that she it to the a she the of her text in her as a to that of who is is the and the of the for Ragusa is first about The Skin Between Us, in a surprising the author her use of photographs throughout her memoir, she is not an of she has family For this her to all the more and ever more on The of Ragusa family the author can be to the of her Italian in family itself in she the author's own as she repeatedly can on in the of her and then this of photographs is of the of Ragusa's literary the photographs of her documentary of the are and to be the author to and her whose agency is with her from an of memory and photographs are not central to the construction of a family but they central as the family to family a of of images that to its she a of family in the of and the of the family that the was of a family photography to to the and of family as as a of the then might that The Skin Between Us, as Ragusa's literary to her own of family an attempt to against the and that her family and that it It is in her the author that her memoir is a to the of both Gilda and my of one from then I in a of the as I my own Moreover, as photographs in Sontag's to a particular cultural that to the too Ragusa's memoir, as it stories of Italian to in the the the and other and cultural that will from consider all of this in light of Ragusa's on the of from the photo might that the author seeks to against that of and story that not her but to her and the that who they are and of this the of the Ragusa that vision of the of the images are to what called she the of the A family's photograph is about the is all that of In this for Ragusa, as for Barthes, photographs are inseparable from the of Camera Barthes attention to photograph of whose was was for to the of Barthes, on the of whose are in that was for Barthes is the and of this what refers to as its is to I read the will be and this has I with an of which is the of a who has since might will be and this has its is is not so as as her of the of photographs it also the and from their black to the of and are who in a her on the of the and the of to the like to in the of and with the of to her Miriam, she from a was with this and as she Ragusa to to if I were into because of its in a place to which I was but because I in the of the to a in in refers not to and her Italian American and African and but as she in her to the and the her and the memory of her to the in a in which the author on to “My Ragusa they have all passed on to is the the the the of the of also a into the is like vision of the of the the of is from to of the when she the her to and that she her light and and and and In of the her to the and this and to in the a from a in the skin of the and the into her I like this of her own the of to and her Ragusa also us to think of her as a in the author who a memoir about and her Ragusa, like is the one who into the the of the the and in writing this memoir that is so on the agency of the self and the the line of the text is about her own makes clear that this text is not about and the but about her and the of her The author will not to her with her to her from them in the Thus, Ragusa, on the photographs of her the like as and It is photography and images that document the existence of the author's and her to them not as or but as whose are inseparable from her It is for this that the author her literary as she is like who is not of the but also of reminds Ragusa the of writing her and stories as an of a and to the Ragusa the photographic is the and is the the in which Ragusa to make for the agency of those who before this for Ragusa, as for Barthes, photography is a its capacity to that which It is photography, in that Ragusa to be like to the is an important as the form in the of Ragusa to against the of the In this and in with Ragusa her memoir to some of the agency of the other so that it might and be passed in story from one to the

Art · Photography · Sociology · Visual arts · African history and culture studies · Gender Studies

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