I read that Frederick Douglass was the most photographed American of the 19th century, and that these photographs helped combat racist minstrel caricatures of black people and played a tremendous role in leading to the abolition of slavery in America. Douglass apparently called photography a democratic art medium, because while a painting can be a caricature, you can't edit a photograph.
He'd be rolling in his grave at deepfakes in 2020.
