When photography is discussed as a colonialist imaging practice, two obvious notions of seeing and being seen come into play. Seeing implies empowerment; being seen does not.
Accounts of colonial photography in the Dutch East Indies focus on European photographers and exceptional figures like Kassian Cephas, the first (known) native Javanese photographer.1 Yet... Show moreAccounts of colonial photography in the Dutch East Indies focus on European photographers and exceptional figures like Kassian Cephas, the first (known) native Javanese photographer.1 Yet photography was not simply a ‘European’ technology transplanted from the European metropole to the Asian colony. Decentring European photographers from the history of photography in the Indies reveals the more circuitous - and Asian - routes by which photography travelled to and within the archipelago. Show less
Photography was first introduced to India in 1840, only a year after the announcements of the daguerreotype and calotype processes in France and England. The fragility of this early material, the... Show morePhotography was first introduced to India in 1840, only a year after the announcements of the daguerreotype and calotype processes in France and England. The fragility of this early material, the uniqueness of the daguerreotype and the harshness of the Indian climate mean that photographs from this time are scarce, leaving us with a fragmented picture of the development of the medium. Show less
Almost immediately after the invention of photography in 1839, photographers embarked on expeditions throughout the colonial world. Entrepreneurial photographers rushed to locations along the... Show moreAlmost immediately after the invention of photography in 1839, photographers embarked on expeditions throughout the colonial world. Entrepreneurial photographers rushed to locations along the colonial trail across the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, the Pacific, and Asia, to create images of ancient monuments and ‘exotic others’. They created lavish albums of photographs, making available pieces of the periphery for sale in European metropoles. Colonised people and places became the ongoing subjects of the colonial lens. Show less
Jan George Mulder, a salesman from Haarlem, left a legacy of over 2000 stereo photographs, more than half originating from his time in French colonial Indochina. Yet not one of them contains a... Show moreJan George Mulder, a salesman from Haarlem, left a legacy of over 2000 stereo photographs, more than half originating from his time in French colonial Indochina. Yet not one of them contains a caption or even a hint about the contents. What’s more, Mulder’s life in Vietnam remains something of a mystery. John Kleinen immersed himself in this unique collection, determined to learn more about the images and the man behind them. Show less
At the end of the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded the Philippine Islands to the United States. The U.S. engaged in a three-year war against the Filipinos, who fought fiercely for their... Show moreAt the end of the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded the Philippine Islands to the United States. The U.S. engaged in a three-year war against the Filipinos, who fought fiercely for their independence, and in 1902 it took possession of a country half a world away. Show less
Postcards from French colonies are sold today as nostalgic evocations of a vanished world. The erotic, opiuminfused images of Indochina have been particularly popular since the elegant fiction of... Show morePostcards from French colonies are sold today as nostalgic evocations of a vanished world. The erotic, opiuminfused images of Indochina have been particularly popular since the elegant fiction of exotic utopia they depict was carefully constructed to justify the colonial enterprise. Show less
They seem like shards of flash-frozen reality compacted into two dimensions, putative proof of having been there and seen that. They move over various forms of distance and time, while carrying... Show moreThey seem like shards of flash-frozen reality compacted into two dimensions, putative proof of having been there and seen that. They move over various forms of distance and time, while carrying with them ephemeral yet precious moments or sights to be appreciated, and then possibly forgotten. Viewing postcards of colonial Korea as visual records, art objects, or propaganda has generated useful insights; at the same time, Hyung Gu Lynn suggests that postcards of colonial Korea encapsulate and embody the multiple notions of mobility that emerged in the early 20th century. Show less
Early Japanese photography - like so many other elements of Japanese modernity - has often been considered a mere by-product of interaction between western technical know-how and traditional... Show moreEarly Japanese photography - like so many other elements of Japanese modernity - has often been considered a mere by-product of interaction between western technical know-how and traditional Japanese aesthetics. Academic approaches to understanding the photography of Meiji Japan (1868-1912) have likewise been hampered by what could be called an isolated aesthetics, where images are divorced from their social context even as they are mined for 'evidence' in what they purportedly tell us about Japanese history or customs. Show less
