Cutting Cane

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

This photograph shows workers cutting cane in about 1880. 

The workers are posed to depict a seemingly natural scene of taking a break from their work. Some are pretending to chew on the cane they have cut. The man on the right wearing a suit and hat may be the European plantation manager or owner.  Although no longer enslaved, the conditions for workers were no better and harvesting sugar cane was still back-breaking work. 

Look closely at the expressions of the workers and see what they say about their lifestyle. The photographer could have shown the cane cutters at work, or the way in which land had fallen into chaos since slavery was abolished. He could also have shown the poor conditions plantation workers still lived in at the end of slavery.