Three First Traverses on Land End, Fort Fisher, N.C. 1865

Curator: Timothy O'Sullivan's photograph, "Three First Traverses on Land End, Fort Fisher, N.C.," presents an arresting view of Civil War fortifications. Editor: There's a stark, almost brutalist quality to the earthworks—the repetitive, rounded forms against that vast, featureless sky. Curator: Indeed, the image transcends mere documentation; it speaks to the strategic importance of landscape in warfare and the labor exacted upon enslaved populations forced to construct these defenses. Editor: Note how the light reveals texture. The arrangement of the traverses creates a powerful rhythm, a formal echoing that almost denies the violent history embedded here. Curator: Yet that history is essential. The capture of Fort Fisher was pivotal, cutting off Confederate supply lines and hastening the end of the war and, ultimately, of slavery. Editor: Perhaps. But I find the composition—the tonal range, the sheer geometry of the forms—more compelling. Curator: Ultimately, the photograph serves as a poignant reminder of the intertwined nature of landscape, labor, and liberation. Editor: A starkly beautiful interplay of light and form, regardless of its historical context.