What mental images do you have in your mind when you think of indigenous/non-Western people?
What visual attributes immediately spring to mind?
The culture of those people is dependent on where they are from. Typically if we think of the term ‘indigenous’ we are struck by little to no clothing, cultural tribal tattoos and hair styling and, where there are clothes, a complete lack of western brands and modern styles. To our eyes, these styles seem absurd and otherworldly, uncultured almost.
Where have you learned / seen this?
How do you know?
This is largely learned through school textbooks, stereotypical depictions on the internet and, as with this lecture, the depictions shown in publications such as National Geographic. We only know what is portrayed for us. The simulacrum of other cultures either by choreography of the photograph or but the editing to choose what we do and do not see.
I have not travelled as much as many of my friends to other countries, hardly out of Europe in fact. So I am entirely at the mercy of the portrayal of other cultures in the media I consume.
What visual images do you have in your mind when you think of:
⁃ North Korea: marching soldiers, goose-stepping, flexing military might in parades, their dictatorial leader. But furthermore in recent years the abject poverty that much of the country faces as a result of being such an isolated nation.
⁃ Colombia: most well known for its drug trade so images of cocaine alongside poverty spring to mind. My brother did some visits to churches out there a couple of years back so some of those images spring to mind also.
⁃ Saudi Arabia: old Mercedes cars, oil refinery’s, towering luxury apartment building beside shack towns and impoverished peoples. An abject imbalance between the rich and the poor.
Are there any power relations inherent in your work?
I feel there are possibly power relations present in my work of the previous module photographing the area of Fawley.
Are there any ideological issues to consider?
Every photograph should have consideration to possible ideological issues. Our ideologies are strong and a driving force behind many people. Ones willingness to defend ones ideologies should never be taken for granted.
How do you represent and re-present?
I feel the term ‘re-present’ is highly subjective. Whether a subject matter has been represented fairly is dependent upon ones experience and exposure to the world. In my work I feel that, although there is often a motive around what I want to represent and how there is always room for the viewer to apply their own understanding of representation in photographs.
Do you reproduce?
All photographs are a reproduction of what was before the lens at that time. Whether that reproduction has been staged or altered is another matter for discussion. In a question of truth in reproduction the camera does not have the capacity to lie. The photographer however can and often does even if that’s not their intention.
Andrews Masters Journey 