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Cultural appropriations

Photohistory Quest 170 (15 September 2020) was on "Cultural appropriations" and I'd like to share some examples.

In some cases the traveler, or resident, in another culture adopts local clothing because of practicality, the acceptance of local cultural norms and the desire to blend in.

Unidentified photographer, Dr Theodore Leighton Pennell (1867-1912), medical missionary in Pathan dress, 1900-1912 (approx.), Photograph, hand-coloured, Cambridge University Library, Royal Commonwealth Society CMS 34/57
LL/96506

Upon return from an expedition, or journey, the traveler visited a studio to be documented in the attire worn in foreign parts. The clothing and accompanying souvenirs, such as a dagger or a hookah, added a touch of local colour and authenticity.

Warren Thompson, [Self-portrait as an Arab], 1855 (ca), Daguerreotype, stereo, George Eastman Museum, Gift of Eastman Kodak Company, ex-collection Gabriel Cromer, 1970.0011.0004
LL/74565

Lounging on the floor and smoking a hookah before a painted background blended realities.

John Horsburgh, John Horsburgh (?), n.d., Carte de visite, Private collection of Steven Evans
LL/102578

In the portrait of G. W. Rusden, taken in the Batchelder Studios in Australia, he carries a boomerang and animal skins but instead of having body paint he appears to be wearing a costume that approximates to Aboriginal body paint. It is the illusion of accepting another culture without getting messy.

Batchelder Studios, Portrait of G. W. Rusden dressed as an Aboriginal Australian, 1880 (ca), Carte de visite, National Library of Australia, nla.pic-vn4223009
LL/39744

The clothing of colonizing powers was given, or awarded, to the rulers of the colonized. Along with the robes, medals, and chains of the colonizer the wearers gained status at the same time as losing it. The ruling classes by adopting the symbols of others were diminished. They become proud participants in the heritage of another world but were never really part of it.

Herzog & Higgins, Son of Maharaja Sri Teen Chandra Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, 1910 (ca), Gelatin silver print, toned, 95.5 x 73 cm (37.5 x 29 ins), Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books, Stock Number: 82941
LL/45947

Dressing up is partly about play but it is about the myths and ideologies we carry about the other. It is a mind shift from the everyday into an exotic, or natural world, wrapped up in our superficial understanding of cultures we don't really understand. We collide with taboos but because of our own perceived superiority we think we can get away with it. We are surprised when we offend through our appropriation of the lives of others. Our sensitivities to some of these issues are a thin facade.

Photography leaves us visual traces to how society sees itself through the cultures it has appropriated.

On Luminous-Lint there are many examples showing diverse aspects of cultural appropriation.

Photohistory Quests - Progress to date (16 September 2020)

The Photohistory Quests being carried out on Facebook are both enjoyable and informative. Many examples from private collections around the world have filled in gaps and rounded out our knowledge of obscure subjects. To date 171 Quests have been completed and thousands of photographs have arrived in. Thanks to everybody who is participating.

PHOTOHISTORY QUESTS:

FIRST SERIES: 1-100

1. Arms & Armour (29 March 2020)
2. Fruits (30 March 2020)
3. Vegetables (31 March 2020)
4. Birds (1 April 2020)
5. Clouds (2 April 2020)
6. Lightning and the damage it creates (3 April 2020)
7. Poppies (4 April 2020)
8. Butterflies and moths (5 April 2020)
9. Beds and bedrooms (6 April 2020)
10. Buddhism (7 April 2020)
11. Glaciers (8 April 2020)
12: Balloon and kite photography (9 April 2020)
13. Architectural models and drawings (10 April 2020)
14: Scotland: Rosslyn Chapel / Roslin Chapel (11 April 2020)
15. Events (12 April 2020)
16. Alcohol (13 April 2020)
17. Extinct animals (14 April 2020)
18. Ferns (15 April 2020)
19. Text and calligraphy (16 April 2020)
20. The Temple of Vesta, Rome (17 April 2020)
21. Umbrellas and parasols (18 April 2020)
22. Skulls (19 April 2020)
23. Archaeological finds (20 April 2020)
24. Insects - not butterflies or moths (21 April 2020)
25. Photomicroscopy (22 April 2020)
26. Judaism and Judaica (23 April 2020)
27. Non-architectural models (24 April 2020)
28. Domestic lighting, candlesticks, oil lamps and chandeliers (25 April 2020)
29. Stamps, wet, blind and embossed (26 April 2020)
30. Glass and crystal (27 April 2020)
31. Pottery, china, porcelain and ceramics (28 April 2020)
32. Collage and photomontage (29 April 2020)
33. Fountains (30 April 2020)
34. Iran (1 May 2020)
35. Charity (2 May 2020)
36. Italian Street Musicians - Pifferari (3 May 2020)
37. Vacant chairs (4 May 2020)
38. Landscape reflections in water (5 May 2020)
39. Paintings showing photographs and albums (6 May 2020)
40. Shop and business exteriors (7 May 2020)
41. Miners and mining (8 May 2020)
42. Construction of bridges, viaducts and aqueducts (9 May 2020)
43. Occupational portraits of women (10 May 2020)
44. Mosques (11 May 2020)
45. Roses (12 May 2020)
46. Egypt: Wall art, bas-relief, hieroglyphics and graffiti (13 May 2020)
47. Packaging photographs (14 May 2020)
48. St. Peter's Cathedral, Rome (15 May 2020)
49. Bas-relief sculpture (16 May 2020)
50. Hunters, their weapons and dogs (17 May 2020)
51. Fans (18 May 2020)
52. Central or Middle Asia (19 May 2020)
53. Counter-stamped coins, tokens and premiums for photographic studios (20 May 2020)
54. Jesus Christ (21 May 2020)
55. Water carriers (22 May 2020)
56. Anthropometry (23 May 2020)
57. Commercial catalogues for photographers (24 May 2020)
58. Singapore and the Malay Peninsula (25 May 2020)
59. Elephants (26 May 2020)
60. Lions (27 May 2020)
61. The Georgian Military Road (28 May 2020)
62. Playing cards (29 May 2020)
63. Sumo wrestling (30 May 2020)
64. The Cedars of Lebanon (31 May 2020)
65. Bread, flour based products, bakers and bakeries (1 June 2020)
66. Illustrations (not photos) showing women photographers (2 June 2020)
67. Cutlery - Knives, forks and spoons (3 June 2020)
68. Manufacturers and painters of studio backgrounds (4 June 2020)
69. The Balkans - excluding Greece (5 June 2020)
70. Patent illustrations related to photography (6 June 2020)
71. Maps and photography (7 June 2020)
72. Surveyors and cartographers (8 June 2020)
73. Peoples of the Arctic (9 June 2020)
74. Megalethoscopes and Alethoscopes (10 June 2020)
75. Work benches and darkrooms in photography studios (11 June 2020)
76. Burma (12 June 2020)
77. Cambodia (13 June 2020)
78. Vietnam (14 June 2020)
79. Armenia (15 June 2020)
80. Tableaux vivants (16 June 2020)
81. Magnesium light (17 June 2020)
82. Non-English language books and magazines with tipped-in photographs (18 June 2020)
83. Volcanoes and volcanic eruptions (19 June 2020)
84. Hand-painted landscapes and cityscapes devoid of people (20 June 2020)
85. Advertising albums (21 June 2020)
86. Tea (22 June 2020)
87. X-rays of animals (23 June 2020)
88. Bathrooms (24 June 2020)
89. Rubber trees, the collection of rubber, processing and products (25 June 2020)
90. Oil industry outside the USA (26 June 2020)
91. Eggs (27 June 2020)
92. Floods (28 June 2020)
93. Horses posing in front of painted backgrounds and painted walls (29 June 2020)
94. Airbrushing photographs (30 June 2020)
95. The internal geometry of bridges (1 July 2020)
96. Decorative ironwork (2 July 2020)
97. Cyanotypes of factories, workshops and industrial products (3 July 2020)
98. The constrained - handcuffs, leg irons, stocks and cangues (4 July 2020)
99. Cyanotypes of objects (5 July 2020)
100. Catacombs (6 July 2020)

SECOND SERIES: 101-200

101. Egypt: The Sphinx (7 July 2020)
102. The Great Wall of China (8 July 2020)
103. Magazines and journals with tipped-in photographs (9 July 2020)
104. Stonehenge (10 July 2020)
105. Plowing / Ploughing (11 July 2020)
106. Pigs (12 July 2020)
107. Oceanographic research (13 July 2020)
108. Hypnotism (14 July 2020)
109. Jerusalem: Valley of Jehoshaphat - Kidron Valley (15 July 2020)
110. Printing frames (16 July 2020)
111. Resellers of photographs and distribution chains (17 July 2020)
112. Mecca and the Haj (18 July 2020)
113. Footwear (19 July 2020)
114. Photographs with grids for copying and transfer (20 July 2020)
115. Medical specimens (21 July 2020)
116. The Anglo-Egyptian War (1882), the naval bombardment of Alexandria, the Battle of Tel el-Kebir, the key figures and the veterans (22 July 2020)
117. Samoa (23 July 2020)
118. Chile (24 July 2020)
119. Business stationary related to photography (25 July 2020)
120. Earthquakes (26 July 2020)
121. Poland (27 July 2020)
122. Orchids (28 July 2020)
123. Mashrabiya, projecting oriel windows enclosed with carved wood latticework, of Cairo and the Arab World (29 July 2020)
124. Viewpoints - looking up and looking down (30 July 2020)
125. Caribbean and surrounding islands (31 July 2020)
126. Utah: Devil's Slide (1 August 2020)
127. London, Trafalgar Square (2 August 2020)
128. Thomas Houseworth - Houseworth's Celebrities (3 August 2020)
129. Postage stamps and photography (4 August 2020)
130. Beirut (5 August 2020)
131. Telescopes (6 August 2020)
132. Cheese (7 August 2020)
133. Barbers and hairdressers (8 August 2020)
134. Second Schleswig War / Prussian-Danish War (1864) (10 August 2020)
135. Hung game (11 August 2020)
136. Algiers (12 August 2020)
137. Libya (13 August 2020)
138. Wales (14 August 2020)
139. Commercial, and amateur, cartes de visite portraits taken outside but next to the house (15 August 2020)
140. Stereoviews of archaeological sites (16 August 2020)
141. Advertising and promoting photographic products by linking them to scientific expeditions (17 August 2020)
142. Memory and photomontage (18 August 2020)
143. Grapes and grapevines (19 August 2020)
144. Antarctica (20 August 2020)
145. Blacksmiths (21 August 2020)
146. Posters for photographic exhibitions (22 August 2020)
147. Fotoscultura (Mexican folk art) (23 August 2020)
148. Iceland (24 August 2020)
149. Cangues (25 August 2020)
150. Arcade photo booths (26 August 2020)
151. The manufacture of photography-related items (27 August 2020)
152. Space Age studio props (28 August 2020)
153. Kamakura: Daibutsu - The Great Buddha / Amida Buddha, Kotoku-in (29 August 2020)
154. Studio marks and signatures in the negative (30 August 2020)
155. The use of electric light in photographic studios (31 August 2020)
156. The Camera Lucida (1 September 2020)
157. Graves of notable photographers (2 September 2020)
158. Spirit Photography and paranormal manifestations (3 September 2020)
159. Yemen (4 September 2020)
160. Nasir al-Din Shah (5 September 2020)
161. Seaweed (6 September 2020)
162. Sarony and celebrities (7 September 2020)
163. Luxembourg (8 September 2020)
164. Interiors of Railroad Photographic Studios (9 September 2020)
165. Mormons (10 September 2020)
166. Dark tents and dark boxes (11 September 2020)
167. Camera stands and tripods (12 September 2020)
168. Solar Enlargers (13 September 2020)
169. Jerusalem: Church of the Holy Sepulchre (14 September 2020)
170. Cultural appropriation (15 September 2020)
171. Designs for backgrounds without people (16 September 2020)

The quests at first appear to be random but they are not. Each quest is to fill a specific requirement on Luminous-Lint. Quests are open to all so if you have a research question send it through.

FACEBOOK group: PHOTOHISTORY QUESTS

Here the photographs are not limited to a technique or date as I'm delving into the outer reaches of what is available in photography. My deepest appreciation to all of you who have participated in the QUESTS to date and you can see everybody who has provided images to Luminous-Lint here:

Luminous-Lint: Acknowledgements

Thanks again for all your help over the years.

Free Trial of Luminous-Lint

During COVID-19 I made Luminous-Lint was free to all from 22nd March until 31th May 2020 to allow students access to resources. A FREE TRIAL for the website is still available so send an email to alan@luminous-lint.com with your name and reasons for wanting to take a look and I'll set up a password for you.

Educational subscriptions

During the COVID-19 pandemic there has been an increasing need for distance learning and this looks set to continue. Students and staff require access to visual resources on photohistory at a time when libraries are closed and books can not include the range of images necessary to understand a topic with any level of depth. Luminous-Lint continues to provide structured resources on photohistory to all. It costs $300 a year for all your staff and students to have access to the best resource there is.

It is time to ensure that your subscription to Luminous-Lint has been confirmed. Please check with whoever manages subscriptions to digital resources to ensure all is well. If you are a professor, researcher or student requiring access to Luminous-Lint please contact your Head of Department or Librarian.

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Getting around

Stereographs Project

Library

Video feeds, audio feeds, and enhanced media documents

Welcome

Thanks for your support

Cultural appropriations

Photohistory Quests - Progress to date (16 September 2020)

Free Trial of Luminous-Lint

Educational subscriptions

Recently updated Themes

Getting around

PhotographersConnectionsDirectory

Stereographs Project

Library

Video feeds, audio feeds, and enhanced media documents

Welcome

Thanks for your support

Cultural appropriations

Photohistory Quests - Progress to date (16 September 2020)

Free Trial of Luminous-Lint

Educational subscriptions

Recently updated Themes