By English Purcell, special to Charleston Currents |  I grew up on James Island and was always fascinated with McLeod Plantation.  Its slave quarters were visible near one of only two ways off the island. The owner at the time, Willie McLeod, always sat behind my grandmother at St. James Episcopal Church. 

More recently, I took one of the interpretive tours at McLeod.  It focused on enslaved Africans and their lives there. I decided to shoot the series from the perspective of the enslaved on a plantation to draw attention to what they saw in their everyday lives. I must note that the enslaved were not just on plantations. Behind just about every big house on the peninsula of Charleston were slave quarters: laundries, kitchen houses, carriage houses and stables. 

This series tells a story without words. The title “A study in black and white” has, of course, a double meaning: Black, representing the enslaved, and white, representing the slave owners.  I also edited the photos in black and white.