Photography's Other Histories (review)

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When 19th-century experiments made it possible to combine light and chemicals to record images on a sensitive material, what we now call photography was born. Relatively new in the scheme of things, photographic replication has nonetheless had a powerful impact on global communication from its inception. Photography's Other Histories introduces several geographies often left out of the academic accounts and expands historical critical debate beyond what the authors see as a Euro-American bias. This approach allows the 12 essays in this publication to convey successfully that the cultural experience of this new technology was not homogenous. Chapters devoted to Australian Aborigines and American Navajo, and to Papua New Guinea, China, Japan, Peru, Kenya, India and Nigeria, convey photography's influence on global development and cross-cultural communication. Each point is doubly articulated by the use of the forceful images that the writers reference. As a result, selections offer a lens on worldwide geopolitical histories as well as reminders of the degree to which many traditions found the Western use of this tool invasive.

Overall these case-centered contributions work in elaborating photography's reach and underscore the multifaceted issues that have arisen as our world has grown smaller. Indeed, several authors presented research that was so powerful I found my mind circling back to the details for days after the reading. In part the impact was no doubt due to my unfamiliarity with the subject matter. Given that much of the research was new to me, it was particularly useful to find the textual descriptions enhanced by the camera's ability to present the faces and topography from various perspectives. I particularly value the way the publication presents alternatives. For example, James Faris's astute comparison of a published and an unpublished image of one woman often depicted by Edward S. Curtis aided immensely in presenting the thesis that the Curtis photographs were frequently contrived and misleading. In this case, Faris includes a Curtis picture showing that this woman had a rich, warm, beaming smile that remained unknown to us due to Curtis's decision never to share her expressive face with the outside world. Instead, all of the images this well-known photographer published of her depict a somber native who, as Faris relates, was apparently "dressed up" for the camera.

Organizationally, the book shows that choices determine how a story is told. The editors favor portraying the histories in a postmodern fashion and through anthropological eyes. Bracketing the book into three parts—"Personal Archives," "Visual Economies," and "Self-Fashioning and Vernacular Modernism"—leads to the mixing of traditions within parts. While the global feel of this mixture is a positive, the approach often separates related essays. It is not a major problem, but I did find that the placement of contributions undermines the book's ability to connect articles that share historical crosscurrents. For example, I would have liked the four essays on the Australian Aborigines to be placed together.

The initial chapters set the stage with three first-person accounts by two indigenous Australians and a Seminole/Muskogee/Diné artist. After reading through Christopher Pinney's quite academic introduction, I found Jo-Anne Driessens's essay, "Relating to Photographs," notably refreshing. Using a human voice, she eschews dry jargon in favor of clear presentation of her poignant story. Adopted at 2 weeks of age, Driessens explains that she discovered her Aboriginal background through photographs in the Tindale Collection. I was immediately won over by the sincerity expressed in this piece. Although the shortest in the book, in my opinion, it is the best.

The next two sections might be characterized as a mix of anthropology and visual culture. Roslyn Poignant's exposé of misused photography is presented in the "The Making of Professional 'Savages': From P.T...