Paul "Hots" Watkins, Stable Manager for Many Years of Diteman's Stable, 1612 Aliceanna Street, East Baltimore, Maryland, December 1979, from the series Southern Roads/City Pavements

Roland L. Freeman, Paul "Hots" Watkins, Stable Manager for Many Years of Diteman's Stable, 1612 Aliceanna Street, East Baltimore, Maryland, December 1979, from the series Southern Roads/City Pavements, 1979, printed 1982, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of George H. Dalsheimer, 1991.80.2, © 1979, Roland L. Freeman

The Baltimore horse-cart vendors known as “arabbers” hold a special place in Freeman’s early development – so much that he dedicated an entire project to an exploration of their lives. Paul “Hots” Watkins is an intimate photographic portrayal of one member of this hard-working and now virtually extinct group in Baltimore. A descendent of arabbers himself, Freeman’s closeness to the subject was both difficult and rewarding – he wanted his documentation to reveal the arabbers’ rich social history as well as their importance in the African American story.

African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012

Title

Paul “Hots” Watkins, Stable Manager for Many Years of Diteman’s Stable, 1612 Aliceanna Street, East Baltimore, Maryland, December 1979, from the series Southern Roads/City Pavements

Artist

Roland L. Freeman

Date

1979, printed 1982

Location