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The violence of colonial photography
The late nineteenth century saw a rapid increase in colonial conflicts throughout the French and British empires. It was also the period in which the camera began to be widely available. Colonial authorities were quick to recognise the power of this new technology, which they used to humiliate defeated opponents and to project an image of supremacy across the world. Drawing on a wealth of visual materials, from soldiers’ personal albums to the collections of press agencies and government archives, this book offers a new account of how conflict photography developed in the decades leading up to the First World War. It explores the various ways in which the camera was used to impose order on subject populations in Africa and Asia and to generate propaganda for the public in Europe, where a visual economy of violence was rapidly taking shape. At the same time, it reveals how photographs could escape the intentions of their creators, offering a means for colonial subjects to push back against oppression.
- GenresPhotographyNonfictionArt
369 pages, ebook
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 11, 2023
How can anyone resist reading this book?! - was what I posted when I first came across mention of this book and while having read it would no longer question anyone's ability to resist reading the book I cannot actually condemn the book as bad, just dull.
The subject is fascinating and the author touches on a whole variety of subjects how they were made, who made them, what for (private archives, personal albums, etc.), the way they were received, the public's sophistication, the nervousness of the authorities about the uses they could put to, staging of images, tampering with images, etc. It touches on myriad fascinating and important points. Unfortunately it is an 'academic' book and while not written in the worst sort of academic jargon it is not written with the lightness and attention to clarity that a book aimed at a broader public might have. I don't complain about the information provided only its presentation*.
This book is everything it promises as an academic work, it is just not the reading experience I can enjoy. The author and publishers might argue that it isn't written for readers like myself but a different audience. Personally I think it is unfortunate that this is the case because books like this have important things to say and communicate and to wilfully restrict your audience by presenting your arguments in stuffy, dreary language is silly.
This is worth reading but it is not pleasant reading.
*I don't blame the author the book is published by an academic press (it was also originally written in French) and the vast majority of these books are written for their academic peers and university students as career building exercises. There is 'house style' these books have and it is only rare academics who acquire a profile outside academia who break free of this leaden prose. As an example I provide Professor Dominic Leiven who has written many excellent, and readable, histories of the Russian revolution, a biography of Nicholas II and about Russia's wars with Napoleon. But if you go back to his first book 'Russia's Rulers Under the Old Regime' you find a work which while fascinating but is written in a less than reader friendly prose compared to his later works.
The subject is fascinating and the author touches on a whole variety of subjects how they were made, who made them, what for (private archives, personal albums, etc.), the way they were received, the public's sophistication, the nervousness of the authorities about the uses they could put to, staging of images, tampering with images, etc. It touches on myriad fascinating and important points. Unfortunately it is an 'academic' book and while not written in the worst sort of academic jargon it is not written with the lightness and attention to clarity that a book aimed at a broader public might have. I don't complain about the information provided only its presentation*.
This book is everything it promises as an academic work, it is just not the reading experience I can enjoy. The author and publishers might argue that it isn't written for readers like myself but a different audience. Personally I think it is unfortunate that this is the case because books like this have important things to say and communicate and to wilfully restrict your audience by presenting your arguments in stuffy, dreary language is silly.
This is worth reading but it is not pleasant reading.
*I don't blame the author the book is published by an academic press (it was also originally written in French) and the vast majority of these books are written for their academic peers and university students as career building exercises. There is 'house style' these books have and it is only rare academics who acquire a profile outside academia who break free of this leaden prose. As an example I provide Professor Dominic Leiven who has written many excellent, and readable, histories of the Russian revolution, a biography of Nicholas II and about Russia's wars with Napoleon. But if you go back to his first book 'Russia's Rulers Under the Old Regime' you find a work which while fascinating but is written in a less than reader friendly prose compared to his later works.
February 8, 2023
Foliard has written the book on photography in the era of New Imperialism. He uses a wealth of photos to show the many ways photography was used between 1880 and 1914. Colonial powers often celebrated violence against colonized peoples, but critics of empire also used photography. He does a great job helping non experts read photographs.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews