Social Politics in Australian
Photography
by
Introduction
If we were to attempt the writing of an Australian
history, guided only by the extant photographic record of our past, what
kind of history would we write? My hypothesis, in response to this question,
suggests that such a history would inform of a past which favours the interests
of the white population and futhermore, within the context of this white
population the photographic record would support the interpretation of
past events in favour of the socially and politically advantaged groups.
The claim that "no photo is unpolitical" (1)
is, in this writers view, a maxim.
The reference to 'social politics' in the title of this work reflects my thesis that the processes of production, collection and interpretation of photographs are governed by overt and covert social and political agendas. This reference to such public or hidden agendas is not intended to conjure up images of conspiratorial aims and deeds. It is rather a synopsis of this writers view that the Australian photographic practice, like that elsewhere, operates within a structure that services broad and specific, social and political objectives. The politics behind a depiction can usually be revealed by a process of deconstruction. Who photographed whom or what; how and why? Who ensures the survival of this image while others are destroyed? And, finally, which factors have determined the selection and context for this image to feature in a specific reproduction or display? The object and subject are linked by such questions and the disclosure of a single new aspect informs the remaining process of enquiry. These questions provide a useful introduction to the discussion ahead, because they immediately bring to the surface a number of the problems that accompany the role of photography in the process of 'making history'.
The present transitional phase from the mechanical era to the electronic age will quite possibly also feature the demise of the photographic medium. The appliances and processes, that define photography as we know it, are on the verge of terminal obsolescence. The opinions, dictums and arguments that evolved around the practice of photography and the consequent social political and aesthetic impacts, however, are going to stay with us for some time yet. Particularly because the visual data gathering and modifying electronic technologies are finding themselves bonded to photography as part of a seamless continuum(2) While the change in technologies will inevitably open entirely new creative and aesthetic possibilities, and while this change may well signal massive improvements in the technology available for visual documentation and communication, we must also accept that it's potential for mis-use is already more diverse and much greater than anything described in the following pages. The visual data gatherers of the future who use camera-like devices (3)will be able to reach greater audiences than their counterparts from the mechanical era. But the motivations behind the image, the reasons for the message are unlikely to change as much or as quickly. This must mean that we are well placed at this particular juncture to examine and analyse the uses and mis-uses of the photographic medium to date.
With this issue in mind, I wish to examine photography's representation of the Australian society from the 1840's to the present day. This will require the drawing together of material which has often been scattered by a wide variety of causes. Australia is located at a cross-roads between the American and European cultural influences. It provides thus a fairly unique platform on which to test the ramifications and effectiveness of a range of specific early photographic practices which had some aims towards changing social values and attitudes. The major themes of enquiry will address the issue of making history and forming social opinion.
Chapter One will examine specific groups of technical, ideological, contextual and stylistic change, to demonstrate their impact on the depiction of the white settlement of Australia. The context for my second chapter is the photographic treatment of Australias native population. Here I will trace a process which begins with a practice guided by a philosophy of racial superiority, and gradually evolves towards a documentary and creative practice which allows insights into a 'otherness' from a far less stratified perspective. Professor Manning Clark describes the camera as 'at least as rich a source of information about a country and it's people as the pen' (4). However, when we confront the dilemma of objectivity, Manning Clarke's 'rich source of information' is just as likely to produce 'fictions based on facts'. This is not to suggest that Manning Clark's remark is necessarily incorrect or that the photograph has no value as a carrier of information, but that a photograph functions as a divide between revelation and concealment. 'A still image is a remarkably mute object testifying perhaps only to a "having been there" of the images referent at that single instant in time of it's capture. Meaning, though rich, may be profoundly imprecise, ambiguous, even deceiving'(5). The veracity of a photograph's "meaning" is thus linked to the degree of disclosure of the technical, ideological, contextual and aesthetic values or processes that determine it's production and on-going function. Therefore any photograph, which is used in the process of "constructing history", should have it's own history examined and disclosed before it can be held to have the merest resemblance to a "fact".
My references to history in terms of it being a manufactured account are not accidental. They resonate my definition of history as a systematic construct which selectively pieces together interpretative accounts of events that are deemed to have social and political significance. This definition requires little defence; it has been in use, though in various permutations, since Polybius wrote his Histories more than two thousand years ago(6). The following discourse begins with photography's arrival in this country in 1841 and extends it's frame of reference to include events of the late 1980's. But my aim here is not the production of a chronicle of Australian photographic practice despite the dearth of writing in this field(7). It is rather the identification and discussion of the major factors which have determined photography's participation in the process of documenting the white settlement(8) of Australia.
The appendices that follow these chapters were
created to povide some useful features within a frequently uncharted territory.
Appendix Two was compiled as a database which may be published as a separate
document after further editing. All references throughout this document
to photographs, exhibitions and photographic projects which were exhibited
in print form are listed in italics, as are references to artworks in general.
References to literary sources are underlined.
Credits
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Send comments, questions or problems to:
or
wernerh@netspace.net.au.