Colonialism is when political control of a country is acquired through force, and then the country is exploited economically.
“Postcolonial, in turn, refers to the situation of a people or society or culture after it has been exposed to the presence of those who have come to that people or society or culture with the intention of subjugating, controlling, exploiting, and even improving it” (Harris, 2006).
Photography has documented colonialism both as it was happening and postcolonialism.
Unknown (1910) Sewing class in the Mission of the Daughters of Charity, Nsona-Mbata, Belgian Congo, postcard, collotype. Published by Ern. Thill, Brussels, c. 1920. Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. https://africa.si.edu/exhibits/focus/eyes3.html
This is an image that was taken to use as a postcard. The image was taken in the Belgian Congo. The image is of a sewing class taking place in the Mission of the Daughters of Charity.
There are three Congolese women sat at the sewing machines, with two white women, dressed all in white, standing over them with their hands on the sitting women’s shoulders. The hand on the shoulders suggest a possessive relationship between the missionaries and the Congolese women. Also, the missionaries standing over the sat Congolese women puts them on a lower level, showing the portrayal of Africans as a secondary race under white people.
Another way of showing postcoloniaism is through video.
Episode III: Enjoy Poverty Trailer (2008) Directed by Renzo Martens, INTI Films. https://vimeo.com/144862363
This movie by Renzo Martens shows how people living in poverty have been exploited by Western media but not profiting from their lives. Within his movie, Martens travels around Congo, teaching the Congolese people how to profit off of their poverty.
Martens was trying to implement a trade system, where the impoverished person would allow a photographer or journalist to take videos/photographs of them and in return the person would get paid. Also, the photographer/journalist would be making a profit from the pieces they create.
Postcolonialism can be applied to photography. The images creative will be symbolic of the past struggles the country has faced. The images could also be exploitative, if the poverty stricken people do not benefit from the image but the photographer does.
Postmodernism & Photography
“Postmodernism is the name given to the defining artistic movement of the second half of the 20th century. Postmodern photography is characterized by atypical compositions of subjects that are unconventional or sometimes completely absent, making sympathy with the subject difficult or impossible”. (James, 2005)
The main genres of postmodernism photography are abstraction and contemporary/artistic. Postmodernist photographers were able to photograph a subject and make it look abstract, like photographing shadows of structures to create interesting compositions and forms. James also states that “modernism was characterized by a rejection of previous artistic trends, such as romanticism and a tendency toward realism”.
James continues “The word “banal” is often used in relation to postmodern photography. Banal means ordinary or even boring. As traditional photography focuses on subjects that are interesting, unusual, or beautiful” (James, 2005). Postmodernist photographers tried to focus on subjects that would create unusual compositions that were also still interesting to look at.
A statement that stood out to me from Jeff Wall Postmodernist Photographer of the Real by Sean O’Hagan was “Not photographing gives me imaginative freedom that is crucial to the making of art. That, in fact, is what art is about – the freedom to do what we want.” (Wall, 2015). This statement is Jeff Wall describing his process in taking photos from memory. Postmodernist photographers made it possible for photographers to look at photography as an art form rather than a documentation tool. We are now able to photograph subjects that we enjoy and are interested in. Regardless of whether our subject choice is considered art, we have the ability to photograph a chosen subject as postmodernist photographers helped pave the way for new genres.
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