I Was Here Project 4+

This app uses augmented reality to bring to life the untold stories of enslaved Africans, who later forged an African American identity and shaped American history.

I Was Here is a blend of technology and the arts that explores the history of America through the lens of the African diaspora, from enslavement to the forging of an African American identity. I Was Here seeks to illuminate and help heal the wound caused by enslavement. The project exposes the significance of memory, history, and ancestry through public art and public history installations that serve as a mindful, reverent, and powerful acknowledgment of American history.

Beginning in 2016 in Lexington, Kentucky – the site of the largest auction block for the enslaved, west of the Allegheny Mountains – contemporary African Americans were photographed to create archetypal Ancestor Spirit Portraits. These models stood in the gap, representing the spirits of the Ancestors, forming cohesive, ethereal images that convey the dignity of the African American individual and family. The project creates a visual for the history that has been unwritten.