In the essay on representation and misrepresentation, Dower used an image of two women feeding chickens, and he notes that the fake chicken in the photo just emphasizes how unrealistic the image is. Even though the process of washing kimono may be similar to what the women in the picture are doing, the photo is still staged in order to make the image look attractive to foreigners rather than to actually show how the process is done or reflect the actual lives of the women.
In the section on Globetrotters, there was a list of the different "types" of globe trotters. The descriptions of these different types of globetrotters made me think about how different groups of globetrotters would only be interested in certain areas or topics, such as nature, people, or palaces; therefore, the images they selected would not only show a potential bias, but also be skewed towards only certain areas of information.
I think it's pretty interesting how you evaluated the fakeness of many of these images and how they're tailor made to sell to people who wouldn't know that much about Japan. What truly baffles me is why the artists thought these kinds of works would sell in the first place. I imagine their world view isn't too progressive, but sometimes I wonder if innocent globetrotters developed these limited perspectives of Japan because of the misinformation they were sold. If I was alive in 1860 and knew nothing about Japan and was shown these images, how would I know any better what is real or fake?
ReplyDeleteI think your and Daniel's discussions of fakeness or misrepresentation is really interesting. These photographs were definitely just made to sell. While I'm sure the photographer may have wanted to portray what they saw as a true or natural Japan, it's very much a portrayal of Japan as seen through their eyes or that of Western Orientalism. The fact that foreigners wanted to buy images of Japan and Japanese 'customs, practices or daily life' is in itself commodifying and appropriating Japanese culture. Buying and taking home a 'piece of Japan' or a portrayal of Japaneseness is a weird fetishization of and false understanding of Japan. This kind of thing can still be seen today. For example, Americans tattoo Japanese or Chinese phrases on their body with little or no understanding of what they actually mean or how they're used.
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