Photography of Nations

Photography highlights social constructs within each society. It represents national ideologies that unify nation states. A photograph does not necessarily do this directly, but the juxtaposition of the photographer and the subject allowed for photographs to be interpreted in that way. Photographs play an essential role in promoting a dominant group of people that represent the nation itself. This is represented by photographs that either represent the dominant group through the other, such as demeaning the “other” in the photograph, or representing themselves. For example, America plays a role in producing imagery of itself as a country of middle class white Americans. Meanwhile, they exhibit the “other” as inhumane, thus being able to see themselves as superior. The exhibitions of foreigners were done to display the wild and untouched people who were “uncivilized” and barbaric to the Western world. The complex ideology behind that is that there is a construct that allows for the “other” to be in the same space as us but will never be in the same realm. The “other” isn’t seen as an equal because they aren’t wanted as such, but they are wanted to be observed and to serve as a reminder of Western superiority. The subjects in the photographs may not be a representation of the nation itself but the way the camera is placed, the position of the subjects, and picture altogether provides a face of that nation or a face of another nation through that nation’s eyes. This essay will examine the representation of the nation’s self through photographs of themselves and the “other”, as well as representations of the “other.”

[...] Photography highlights social constructs within each society. It represents national ideologies that unify nation states. A photograph does not necessarily do this directly, but the juxtaposition of the photographer and the subject allows for photographs to be interpreted in that way. Photographs play an essential role in promoting a dominant group of people that represent the nation itself. This is represented by photographs that either represent the dominant group through the other, such as demeaning the “other” in the photograph, or representing themselves. [...]

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