Booker T. Washington on horseback taken by the American photographer Arthur P.Bedou in 1915 follows the canons of formal and equestrian portraiture. Equestrian imagery has been seen in art throughout history in myriad different mediums. Examples can be seen in 10th-century West African bronze sculptures through to 17th-century European baroque canvases. When we as spectators see a figure mounted on a horse we cannot help but think of war or power, as we should in most cases. Roland Barthes wrote: “What establishes the nature of photography is the pose”. so when Arthur Bedou took the photograph of Booker T. Washington on horseback in 1915, it is difficult to think that he did not carefully pose Washington to convey a specific message. Arthur Bedou was a French Creole known for his unique development techniques, portraits and landscapes. Booker T. Washington hired him as a travel photographer during his last engagements in the South. To fully understand the correlation between the pose and the model we must discuss Booker T. Washington's importance in American politics. Washington was not only the president of the Tuskegee Institute, but also a political leader who fought for blacks to achieve economic equality with whites. He believed that if African Americans attended vocational schools to learn industrial and agricultural skills they could begin working for themselves and perhaps then gain the respect of the white community. Reflecting on his beliefs it can be argued that he was not a radical, he accepted that segregation and discrimination were a way of life in the nation, however if African Americans continued to be the driving force behind forced labor they would soon gain equal rights. Booker T. Wash...... middle of paper ......ll, the photograph presented was very simple but unmistakably powerful. Works Cited Bedou, Arthur P. Booker T. Washington on Horseback. 1915. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. “Booker T. Washington Biography – Facts, Birthday, Life Story – Biography.com.” Famous Biographies and TV Shows - Biography.com. Network. October 9, 2011. http://www.biography.com/people/booker-t-washington-9524663.Lytle, Walter A., ​​and John F. Moffitt. "Velázquez, Olivares and the Baroque equestrian portrait". The Burlington Journal 123942 (1981): 528-37. JSTOR. Network. October 9, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/880474.Schwartz, Peter H. “Equestrian Images in European and American Political Thought: Toward an Understanding of Symbols as Political Texts.” The Western Political Quarterly 41.4 (1988): 653-73. JSTOR. Network. October 9, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/448488.