Sailing Ships at Dock, Port of Spain, Trinidad 1935

Marvin Breckinridge Patterson captured this photograph of sailing ships at dock in Port of Spain, Trinidad, sometime in the first half of the 20th century. The ships, laden with goods, evoke Trinidad's history as a vital trading post. The image invites us to consider the lives of the sailors and dockworkers, their labor rendered nearly invisible in the composition. What were their stories? The global economy depended on their work, yet they often remained on the margins. Patterson, as a privileged American woman, occupied a vastly different social position. Her gaze, while perhaps well-intentioned, inevitably reflects these power dynamics. The sepia tone lends a nostalgic air, yet it also obscures the harsh realities of life in a colonial port. Patterson’s photograph presents a layered narrative, one that acknowledges both the beauty and the inherent inequalities of its time.