Daufuskie Island: Photographs

This book is a celebration of life in a bygone era on a South Carolina Sea Island. First published in 1982, ""Daufuskie Island"" vividly captures life on a South Carolina Sea Island before the arrival of resort culture. Located between Hilton Head and Savannah, Daufuskie Island has since become a plush resort destination. Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe's photographs document what daily life was like for the last inhabitants to occupy the land prior to the onset of tourist developments. When Moutoussamy-Ashe first came to Daufuskie in 1977, about eighty permanent African American residents lived on the island. Many still spoke their native Gullah dialect. They had only one store, a two-room school, a nursery, and one active church. Moustoussamy-Ashe's photographs show family gatherings, crabbing and fishing, children at play, spiritual life, and the toils of everyday existence. With the utmost respect for her notoriously shy subjects, she captured a powerful vision of their rough-hewn but rewarding life. Redesigned from cover to cover, this twenty-fifth anniversary edition of ""Daufuskie Island"" includes more than fifty previously unpublished photographs from the original contact sheets.