Non commercial project; For educational purposes only

Non commercial project; For educational purposes only

Created by: Kai Chong

Created by: Kai Chong

Images belong to their rightful owners

Images belong to their rightful owners

COLONIALISM & THE CAMERA

COLONIALISM & THE CAMERA

ONLY AVAILABLE FOR VIEW ON DESKTOP

COLONIALISM

&

THE CAMERA

COLONIALISM

&

THE CAMERA

WHERE DID IT ALL BEGIN?

ORIENTALISM

It is crucial to understand the intertwined relationship between photography and Orientalism, in order to decipher and criticise colonial images.

THE ORIENT TOOK THE ROLE OF A CONTRASTING IMAGE,

IDEOLOGY AND EXPERIENCE FOR THE WEST

IT ALSO CAME AT A TIME WHEN ORIENTALISM WAS TRANSFORMING

FROM A CONTEMPLATIVE AND TEXTUAL FORM, TO AN

ADMINSTRATIVE, ECONOMIC, AND MILITARY ONE.

CRUCIAL APPARATUS OF

THE VISUAL REGIME OF COLONIALISM

Photography was highly reproducible in the form of

cartes de visites and photographic albums

which democratise access to orientalist/colonial imageries.

A MORE EFFICIENT

VISUAL MEDIUM

WHEN THE CAMERA WAS INTRODUCED, PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED A MORE EFFICIENT VISUAL MEDIUM TO PRODUCE IMAGE OF THE ORIENT AND ITS NATIVES.

THE CAMERA BECAME VITAL

IN THE PRODUCTION OF COLONIAL KNOWLEDGE.

AND IN THE PURSUIT OF SUCH KNOWLEDGE,

THE WEST PRODUCED A PHOTOGRAPHIC WORLD OF

RACIAL, IDEOLOGICAL AND IMPERIALIST STEREOTYPES

AND SOME OF THESE EARLY PHOTOGRAPHIC PRACTICES

FROM THE OLD VISUAL REGIME OF COLONALISM

CONTINUES TO EXIST TODAY

VISUALISATION OF NATIVES

The photographic practice of visualising "natives" in the Orient emerged

through the ethnographical visual documentation of the colonised “natives”.

STEREOTYPICAL METHOD

CONSTRUCTING A “NATURALISTIC” PORTRAIT

USE OF CULTURAL OUTFITS AS COSTUMES

REAPPROPRIATING INDIGENOUS VISUAL PRACTICES

USE OF GENERIC DESCRIPTIONS

HUGE INFLUENCE

Most of the indigenous photographers learned

their trade from their Western counterparts.

ON THE LOCAL SELF-IMAGE

AFONG STUDIOS

Many of the early Chinese photographers

were influenced by the colonial visual culture and

one of the most notable Chinese photographer during

its early colonial period was Lai Afong.

Afong's work was greatly admired by

his Western counterpart as he has

mastered the use of Western conventions

in his own practice.

OTTOMAN EMPIRE

During Sultan Abdülaziz II's reign (1861-1876), his "imperial self-portraits"

was part of an effort to resist the stereotypical Orientalist photography

of his empire.

ABDÜLHAMID II ALBUM

"Most of the photographs taken for sale in Europe vilify and mock our Well-Protected Domains.

It is imperative that the photographs to be taken in this instance do not insult Islamic people by

showing them in a vulgar and demeaning light" 1

THE COLONISED

AS PASSIVE OBJECT OF

REPRESENTATION

THE COLONISERS

AS THE ACTIVE AGENT

A BINARY VISUAL STRUCTURE BETWEEN

IS PROBLEMATIC.

JUST AS NOT ALL WESTERN PHOTOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATIONS OF THE

NATIVES ARE EXPRESSIONS OF COLONIAL POWER,

INDIGNEOUS PRACTICES OF PHOTOGRAPHY DO NOT NECESSARILY

CONSTITUTE A LOCAL OF RESISTANCE TO ORIENTALISM.

PHOTOGRAPHY ALWAYS HAD THE POTENTIAL TO DISRUPT OR DISTURB

THOSE SAME MECHANISMS OF COLONIAL AUTHORITY THAT WISHED

TO MOBILISE ITS USE.