Photography, Humanitarianism, Empire

"A significant contribution to the history of humanitarianism, combining valuable descriptions of imagery with a careful analysis of the contexts in which photographs of Indigenous Australians were produced and used. - Johannes Paulmann, Director, Leibniz Institute of European History, Germany Historically situated yet framed within contemporary debates about human rights, Lydon challenges us to reconsider the photographic archive of colonialism and its legacy. Richly illustrated, and using a diverse range of little analysed source material from the 1840s to the 1950s, Lydon also importantly draws attention to the ethical issues that the research and use of these materials entails. - Gaye Sculthorpe, Curator, Oceania, The British Museum, UK Lydon presents her argument through clear and concise cases ... She carefully intersperses visual and cultural theories throughout the text in an amount that offers critical perspective without losing the narrative thread of the argument. The publication is also richly illustrated with archival photographs. - Visual Studies"

Préface
A study of how photography shaped ideas about Aboriginal peoples and influenced changing notions of humanitarianism and colonialism in the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries.

Auteur
Jane Lydon is the Wesfarmers Chair of Australian History at the University of Western Australia

Texte du rabat

With their power to create a sense of proximity and empathy, photographs have long been a crucial means of exchanging ideas between people across the globe; this book explores the role of photography in shaping ideas about race and difference from the 1840s to the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights

Contenu

1. Introduction: Photography, Humanitarianism, Empire2. One Blood: The Nucleus of the Native Church3. Veritable Apollos: Beauty, Race and Scientists4. Blind Spots or Bearing Witness: Antislavery and Frontier Violence in Australia5. Popularizing Anthropology: Elsie Masson and Baldwin Spencer6. 'A Ray of Special Resemblance': H. G. Wells and Colonial Embarrassment 7. Happy Families?: UNESCO's Human Rights Exhibition in Australia, 1951NotesBibliographyIndex