Intrinsically indifferent

 September 13th 2012

     In today's lecture what made me remembered the most is the two different pictures of the same native woman. Pictures were taken by Edward S Curtis, an American photographer of American West and of Native American.

     Guess which picture of this woman got picked to his book The North American Indian?

    

     To my surprise, our Eddie had picked the picture on the right. His goal was not just to photograph, but to document, as much the Native traditional life as possible before that way of life disappeared. He wrote in the introduction to his first volume in 1907:"the information that is not to be gathered...respecting the mode of life of one of the great race of mankind must be collected at once or the opportunity will be lost." 

     Our professor Kelly who teaches Canadian Art history explained to us the picture that got picked would meet the expectations of the audience at that time, who were of the European society.

     In the European society, the audiences seek differences instead of similarities. In this case, the picture on the right was picked because it has very strong native symbolism such as the decoration on her neck and waist. The other one which has a beautiful smile could just be any woman who lives in this world. It surprises me that the picture on the right appeals to the European society more than the other picture. To me, the right picture is almost a document of a dead object, but the other one is a photograph of a real woman, any woman and who was also native.

      Why do people rather differentiate than relate when they look at a culture that is not their own? Why couldn't we treat others like ourselves first? Don't we all need to eat, need to sleep, need to work, need to be loved? Don't we always seek for excuses of big celebrations because we love them? 

     I would feel more comfortable to get to know a different culture through similarities. Not only it helps for easier understanding but also motivate me to learn more. For instance, when I was taking social studies back in high school, I was forced to memories what is Thanksgiving Day to North Americans.  If my teacher had told us the nowadays' purpose of that festival it is similar to our Chinese' Mid-Moon Festival, I would feel it is easier to related than just a question which would poop out in quiz. 

     Going back to the discussion, what I see from Edward S Curtis's photography of the Natives were not what he thought he was doing. By selecting that specific photograph he has killed the culture himself. The culture was not dead before he has done so. That woman in the photography was excluded from her own culture. She was more likely presented as an object than a subject. 

     Here are some pictures from my perspective had documented the traditional lives of some cultures.