 Many of his daguerreotypes were even commissioned by The American Colonization Society to provide images which would be vital for presenting an idealized image of the nation to the men and women in the United States weighing the merits of recolonization in Africa.Washington's Liberian portraits are of meticulously posed elite members of the Liberian colony and focus on showing off the grooming, clothing, decoration and self possession of his upper and middle class subjects.In addition to photographing members of the Liberian upper and middle classes, Washington also photographed many of Liberia's political leaders.