Voting at the polls, Hinds County, Mississippi, 1971

In contrast to other political phenomena, one of the characteristics of action is its visibility. And the principal way in which we might capture the visible is through photography. Might the photograph help us to understand and explore the nature and significance of political action? This paper interrogates a photograph by Doris Derby Voting at the polls, Hinds County, Mississippi, 1971 (from Doris Derby, A Civil Rights Journey, Mack, London, 2021). It describes what it shows and delineates some of its political and historical context; it studies the apparent intent in its detailing and composition. It draws comparison with other examples of election photography. It thinks, with the image, about what voting is, and about what's going on when voting is going on. It finds a parallel in Velazquez's monumental Las Meninas, and its concern with the problem of representation, and then explores the generative tension between visual and political representation in Voting at the polls. An extended afterword reflects on photography as a form of writing, and how we might write about the photograph.