Richard Cross: San Basilio de Palenque en Colombia

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Young girls Hold Baskets on their Heads

Between 1975 and 1978, photographer Richard Cross (1950–1983) became part of an ethnographic study of San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia, the first community of enslaved refugees officially recognized the Spanish crown. The project was directed by Colombian anthropologist Nina S. de Friedemann. She carried out an ethnographic study with the participation of the community and Cross did visual anthropology work. Cross took more than five thousand images providing a rich and detailed visual record of the life of Palenqueros and the material conditions of their subsistence and development. Their work was published in a book titled, Ma Ngombe: Guerreros y ganaderos en Palenque, a pioneer study of Afrodescendientes in Latin America. Four thousand of those images by Richard Cross are already digitized with basic metadata and available to the public and researchers anywhere in the world at CSUN’s Tom & Bethel Bradley Center.

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California Curriculum with photos of San Basilio de Palenque
Portrait of a young woman named Tomasa carrying on her head a metal bowl, or ponchera, with fish. She i (visit link for more)
Young woman with plate of fish on her head, San Basilio de Palenque, 1975. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
Full portrait of Fermín Herrera reading a newspaper. He wears eyeglasses and is rocking in a chair by a (visit link for more)
Fermín Herrera reading the newspaper, San Basilio de Palenque, 1975. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
Half-length portrait of a woman named Justina holding a child in her arms. San Basilio de Palenque, a t (visit link for more)
Woman holding a child in her arms, San Basilio de Palenque, 1975. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
A boy caresses a Brahman cow. Colombian anthropologist Nina S. De Friedemann had been studying the Afro (visit link for more)
Boy caresses a cow, San Basilio de Palenque, 1975. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
Half-length portrait of a picador named Andrés holding a lance in a bullfighting tradition known as &qu (visit link for more)
A picador on a horse holds a lance in his hand inside the bullfight arena, San Basilio de Palenque, 1975. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
Two girls carry a bucket on their heads. Bracelets and a necklace adorn the arm and neck of one of the (visit link for more)
Two girls walk on the street and carry buckets on her head, San Basilio de Palenque, 1975. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
Close-up of a young smiling woman combing her hair. She is wearing a ring on her left ring finger. San (visit link for more)
Woman combing her hair, San Basilio de Palenque, 1976. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
Children boxing inside a boxing ring. San Basilio del Palenque produced three boxing champions: Antonio (visit link for more)
Children boxing, San Basilio del Palenque, ca. 1978. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
Two girls boxing outdoors. Women and children watch the fight while sitting on chairs or standing in fr (visit link for more)
Girls boxing outdoors, San Basilio del Palenque, ca. 1978. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
Half-length portrait of a young woman holding a baby on her lap and feeding it with a milk bottle. She (visit link for more)
Woman feeding a baby, San Basilio de Palenque, 1977. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
Half-length portrait of a woman sitting on a chair and removing corn husk from the cob. She is wearing (visit link for more)
Woman removing corn husks, San Basilio de Palenque, 1976. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
Standing under a palapa, two young girls are pounding grain in a mortar. San Basilio de Palenque, a tow (visit link for more)
Girls pounding grain in a mortar, San Basilio de Palenque, 1976. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
A man and two boys are loading two milk containers on a mule. San Basilio de Palenque, a town located 3 (visit link for more)
A man and two boys loading milk on a mule, San Basilio de Palenque, 1976. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
A woman displays a handful of peanuts while she sits next to a bowl of peanuts on plot of farmland in S (visit link for more)
A woman displaying peanuts, San Basilio de Palenque, 1977. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
Fermín Herrera is working in the field using a machete to cut a banana plant. Herrera was one of the le (visit link for more)
Fermín Herrera working with machete, San Basilio de Palenque, 1976. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.
Two boys stand on top of a hill looking down at the landscape. San Basilio del Palenque, a town located (visit link for more)
Two boys viewing the landscape, San Basilio de Palenque, 1976. Cross, Richard, 1950-1983. Richard Cross Photographs. CSUN Library Digital Collections.

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