Comparative analysis between Tropicalist and Orientalist photographic depiction by their colonial forces Julijana Nicha

2014

Mentored by: Professor Vaniclea dos Santos

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e2

Abstract

This research touches upon the theories of colonialism, post-colonialism, orientalism,

tropicalism and representation through art as a means of cultural imperialism. Particularly, I will

present an interesting parallel and commonalities between oriantalist and tropicalist photography

through the prism of post-colonial theory and Western European representation.

Moreover, this research will focus on the representation of “the Other” seen from an

Eurocentric, even imperialistic, point of view which defines the identity, culture and societal structure

of the Oriental* and the Tropical* peoples. One crucial elements of this study is the usage of colonial

discourse, even after the end of the Portuguese and Dutch colony in Brazil in semiological

representation of the local peoples through photography from the “New World”.

The XIX century traveler’s photography is an album created for political and commercial

purposes, however through the contemporary academia these images can be truthfully interpreted

and be used as a proof of the existence of colonial discourse and European cultural imperialism.

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e3

Introduction

This research reflects the study and the fascination of art as a mean of political and racial

domination. Coming from a European peripheral country (speaking from a Eurocentric point of

view), throughout my traveling in Brazil I noticed many similarities in culture, architecture and racial

history. That is to say, even though Brazil and the Orient are territories which have never had a

direct contact with each other, one has influenced another through third factor - European

colonialism (newworldencycopledia).

The fascination with non-European peoples, cultures and environments were a main theme

of discourse, art and exploration among XIX century scholars, travelers, artists and statesman. This

period of ‘mass’ traveling, exploration, innovation and modernism, inspired Western people to

‘discover’ and civilize the rest of the world through economic, cultural or political imperialism.

Consequently, the travelers and photographers embodied the cultural and political might of Europe

over non-European peoples (newworldencycopledia).

Western colonialism over non-European territories marked an epoch of social, economic and

ethnic discrimination and profiling. Masked under democracy, civilization and religious mission, the

Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, French, English and Italian forces streamed towards the Orient and the

Tropics for a territorial expansion, economic commerce and racial superiority. These imperialistic

aspirations imposed the ethnocentric European culture, language and tradition as superior over

foreign lands and people which transformed their lives and futures with a drastic historical move

(newworldencycopledia). As Rocha defines “Ethnocentrism is a vision of the world where our own

group is taken as the center of everything and all others are thought and senses through our values,

our models, our definitions of what is existence. At the intellectual level, can be seen as the difficulty

think of the difference; the plan affective, as feelings of strangeness, fear, hostility, etc..."(1993; p.

7).

The Spanish and the Portuguese started the colonial period from the 15th century with their

exploration of the Americas and the coast of Africa, Middle East, India and East Asia. Later on, in the

17th century France, England and the Netherlands caught up by extending their sovereignty beyond

their borders over the Middle Eastern region and Africa. Moreover, during the 17th ,18th and 19th

century the colonized territories became main attraction for rich tourists and explorers which

wanted to experience an unforgettable, mystical and exotic sites and places and people ‘of another

race’ (newworldencycopledia). These travelers brought back literal or visual imagery from the

foreign lands, which was static, stereotypical and monolithic, regardless if they would present the

tropics or the orient through painting, photography, postcards or literature. The development of

photography of the colonial era provides visual discourse of the relationship among power, history

and politics. As Burns claims “all such cultural phenomena…are broken down by history - not into

narratives, as expressed through the fictions of controversial history writing, - but into images that

the dialectical gaze needs to read in order to decipher their true significance” (2004, pg. 256).

These images were not a mere work of art, but a work of culture. Moreover, the images

done by the European traveler were more than a simple encounter and allegory; they were

presenting political superiority. In other words, the process of depicting the local population is an

identity contraction. It is a dichotomy, even a paradox, between the noble savage and the indolent

rouge (Burns, 2004).

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e4

Importantly, the audience which these pictures were exhibited to was a male dominated,

middle or high class European. Hence, semiotic analysis is crucial in order to interpret the

photographs made for masculine consumption, due to the patriarchic family orientation and the lack

of women’s rights in the political and social sphere. The non-European world was usually interpreted

the opposite from European culture, thus as exotic, sexual, savage, uneducated, uncivilized because

“the forging of racial stereotypes and confirmation of the notion of savagery were vital to the

colonialist point of view“(Kabbani, 1986, pg. 4).

While speaking of semiology and power, it is inevitable to mention Foulcault’s idea of power

knowledge. Foucault teaches us that knowledge is used as another form of power and that

knowledge linked with power always assumes the authority of truth and even the creation of truth

(Hall 2001). Moreover, he claims that knowledge is created by the social sciences in order to

organize and control human conduct and create understanding, belief and regulation among the

population. He also emphasized that power-knowledge is always rooted in a particular historical

context. Thus, discourse neither represents a naïve reality nor depicts innocent objects; rather

discourse and representation are constructed in accordance to the specific relation of power (Hall

1997). Images signal visual signs which need to be interpreted to gain a meaning. However, prior to

understanding the meaning, we need to be concerned with the production of knowledge and power

through representation and discourse (Hall, 1997).

When interpreting tropical and oriental photography by using semiology and the theory of

power knowledge, the obvious conclusion follows: Western European photographers in the XIX

century used visual imaginary, cultural representation and colonial discourse to present racial

superiority over the local population (Hall, 1997). Through photography, the lives of the people were

reduced to objects of visual collections, a tradition of ‘othering’ which was started by the earliest

anthropologists as they sought to categorize the native populations of colonial dominions as

botanical specimen. The images portrayed people, stuck in time, sharing a reality entirely different

than the viewer’s one (Burns, 2005). Colonial discourse and interpretation was a weapon of

subordination which was based on stereotyping and reduced people to few simple and essential

characteristics which are visible and widely recognized (Hall, 1997). Therefore, as Hall mentions,

“stereotyping is a key element in this exercise of symbolic violence”.

It is important to mention that Western Europe is not the only example of history which has

taken authorities stand of interpreting the ‘others’, but all empires, kingdoms and colonial powers

have done the same. Some academics, moreover, believe that Western Europe was simply playing

the role of a ‘good’ imperialist. Others believe that Europe wanted to ‘revenge’ to the previous

political powers, as the Ottomans (Islamists), thus has been particularly critical and cruel towards

them (Freyre).

The representation of “the other” was taken for granted up to the development of the post-

colonial theory which showed the face of the invisible ghost which produced and stereotyped the

culture of the majority of the world’s peoples. By extensively trying to represent “the other”, the

Westerners were defining themselves. If “the other” is a savage, wild, uncivilized, barbaric,

backwards, dirty, illiterate, then the Western peoples are civilized, educated, modern, hygienic, and

thus, superior. As if the indigenous people waited to be saved, civilized and pacified.

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e5

The representation of ‘the other’ is clearly seen in the earliest developments of

photography. Orientalist and Tropicalist photographers never intended their audience to be their

own subjects. Mostly, the pictures taken from the native peoples were intended to be taken back to

France and shown to the Western audience. Thus, the subjects who were photographed didn’t take

part of the creation of their representation, but they were mere objects. The objectification of the

local population led to a mere imagination of the non-European lands, a creation of idyllic, invented

lands created for the entertainment and fascination of the Western peoples.

Before going into further detail, I want to define what I mean by the ‘Orientals’ the

‘Tropicals’ and who exactly they are. The Orient represented the non-European lands since Vasco De

Gama’s voyage to The Cape. Thus, everything non-European was Oriental. Furthermore, the term

Orient was used more often in the 18th and 19th century as a synonym for the Middle East, North

Africa, the Balkans and Asia during colonial times. However, Orient didn’t stand for a strictly

geographical definition, but mostly racial and religious distinction. Thus, the Orientals were mainly

the peoples from Islamic or any other non-Christian religion, people with darker skin or different

facial features than the “European” ones (McLeod 2000). The Tropicalists on the other hand, are the

peoples living in the tropical environment, as Brazil, Cuba and other Latin American countries. The

term Tropical, doesn’t refer to the Brazilian artistic movement Tropicalism of the 1970s, but to the

discursive production of Brazilian identity by the colonialists focused on sensuality, savageness, and

mystery (Vessiere 2007, pg. 111). However, the Tropicália movement in the 1970s was counter-

cultural ambiance thought to address the stereotypes of ‘tropical cultures’ accented by nineteenth-

century Romanticism (“The Tropics are Everywhere”). This term represents the indigenous and the

local population, living in these lands prior to the European colonizer. The Europeans, particularly

the Portuguese, were primary present in Latin America, and later in the Orient. Even though Brazil

wasn’t under European colony during the XIX century, the Europeans living and traveling across the

land were behaving as such. The interpretation and the distinction of these peoples to the

Europeans were crucial for Europe’s cultural domination and economic and political superiority

(McLeod 2000). An interesting definition of Tropicalism is given by Milner and Browitt saying that it

is equivalent to the term Orientalism ment my Said, “in its own attempt to come to terms with the

new post-nationalist, globalised political and cultural space”. Moreover, they claim that it is an

ideological struggle between the Anglo-American and Latin American cultures (2002).

My research focuses on the XIX century for two main reasons: to present a more clear

parallel of the European representation of the Orient and Brazil and, due to the invention and usage

of the technology of photography.

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e6

Literature Review

The challenge of this research is to deliberately explain the parallel analysis of oriental and

tropical European photography and to present a clear picture of the intellectuals which have

extensively studied colonial and post-colonial period of the Orient and of Brazil.

When talking about the Orient, it in inevitable to mention the Palestinian literary theorist

and public intellectual Edward Said who first coined Orientalism as a theory of post-colonialism. In

the book Orientalism, he explains that the Orient is an imagined community, and he sustains his

arguments by giving examples and explanations for the stereotypical, static and discriminatory

image created for the Orient by the West in order to preserve its cultural superiority. He uses

historical events, starting with the Napoleonic conquests in order to find the root, the trace of the

beginnings of Orientalism as discourse (Said 1978). Furthermore, Loomba explains that the depiction

and the study of the Orient was primarily for political reasons which discourse structure promoted

an extreme opposition between the familiar Western and the strange Eastern civilization (1998,

p.46).

Regarding semiotics and interpretation, Burns gives a clear analysis of cultural imperialism,

ethnicity and tourism. He stresses the importance of reading, interpreting and understanding images

as information. Furthermore, in his essay “Six Postcards from Arabia”, he uses the criticism by

Edward Said and Rana Kabbani to alert the reader of the danger of reductionism by seeing the other

as visual or literary clichés. Kabbani sees an imperial confrontation between the East and the West-

the Orientals were seen as promiscuous, slothful, violent, preoccupant with sex, and incapable of

self-government, thus the Occidentals would justify their necessary presence in the Orient, as

governors and ‘saviors’. The creation of ‘otherness’ which is fatal and exotic, defined the West as

superior entity which needs to civilize the other. Consequently, the Orient is a Western construction

as a result of cultural imperialism. These ideas go along with Foulcault’s interpretation of discourse

and introduction to the power-knowledge theory. Language and discourse create realities, generate

truth, knowledge and interpret images and imposes power.

Similar, on the other side of the Ocean and across Europe, is the traveler’s representation

over the Tropical peoples.

In relation to Tropicalist identity, Jean Marcel Carvalho França talks about the literature of

the European traveler (a literature de viagems) after the ‘discovery’ of the New Worlds such as

America, Japan, Africa and India. The literature of the traveler between the 16th and the 19th century

became an important part of the formation of the image of Brazil and the Brazilian people outside as

a contradictory place, a heaven and a hell, the civilized and the savage, the beauty and the danger of

the tropical environment. The images through which Brazil was presented during that time are still

present in contemporary time. It seems like the idealized vision of tropical Brazil and laid back

people with a low intellectual ability is still in the minds of the European tourist. However, the

Brazilian people didn’t have a direct contribution in the creation of their own interpretation.

Particularly, in the 19th century, it is mostly the Brazilian elite which lunched the bases of the

Brazilian culture (nd). Samuel Vessiere, similarly, talks about the inscription of topicality onto the

colonial subjects, stressing the importance of a binary position, as ‘whiteness’. “The white man, who

rules over the land and owns means of cultural production-proclaims himself virtuous and closest to

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e7

the ultimate truth of God and later that of Science; the black man, in comparison, is constructed as

his binary opposite. Thus, the colonial discourse Self, Whiteness, Europe, Civilization, Culture and the

Mind, become the point of reference in communion with the various historical manifestations of the

imagined logos(God, Pure, Reason, Positive Science…)”(2007, pg 110). Thus, the native would

present the opposite of the before mentioned attributes. Gilberto Freyre has developed further in

the notion of colonial discourse and perception of the native Brazilian, but in the eyes of Vessiere, he

has legitimized the carnivalization of Brazil as perceived today by magazines, TV shows, tourist

agencies…The created ‘other’ starts to behave according to the way the West defined it, it stars to

fulfill its role. As Said (1978) demonstrated how the Orient turned into a mystical representation

which produced and legitimized political agendas of the West, the carnivalization of Brazil has served

for the same purposes (Verssiere 2007, pg 110).

Similarly, As Matthew Boyd Goldie explains in his book The Idea of the Antipodes: Place,

People, and Voices, “Tropicalism as it pertains more specifically to Oceania remains in the popular

and scholarly imagination as a set of projections, representation and condensations: palm trees

idylls, anthropological primitives, desert islands in an unpopulated ocean and the fatal, tragic impact

of European contact”. Moreover, he talks about the simultaneous resemblance of Western

perception of the Tropics and the Orient and its attitude over them. He mentions how the West has

started its cultural imperialism from Greece, going to Rome, and later from the Orient to the Tropics.

In his book New World in the Tropics: the Culture of Modern Brazli, Gilberto Freyre (1959, pg.

198) talks about the diversity of the Brazilian peoples created by the already diverse Portuguese, the

African slaves and the Asian and European immigrants. In other words, he identifies the contact

between the Moorish and the Brazilian culture and their mutual cultural exchanges. Consequently,

he points out the similarities between the slavery system between Brazil and the Islamic Middle-

Eastern countries. He describes that the slavery system in Brazil is an extension of the Portuguese

system which is an extension of the Moorish or Mohamedan as a domestic rather than an industrial

slavery. This is why the system of subordination and slavery are different than the North American

one, for instance. Even though a Christian country, Brazil has internalized a number of Moorish

customs and cultural values, particularly the embracement of the house workers or slaves as part of

the family stratification. Moreover, he mentions that the Arab and Moorish custom of slave

treatment was negatively and even barbarically presented in the European academia and political

propaganda since there was an attempt to create a superior European culture over the century old

Ottoman and Arab cultural presence in the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Middle East.

Liélia Barbosa Oliveira and Emeson Tavares da Silva, likewise, talk about the Euopean

imagination of the tropical lands. In their research essay “Um Outro Alguem: Lançando um novo

olhar sobre o ìndio” (Another someone: launching a new look at the Brazilian Indian) talk about

conception of the histographic presence in the XIX century by the Europeans and the European

construction of the Brazilian identity by imposing their culture as superior over the non-European.

Moreover, they stress the strong presence of the false creation of history as it reproduced the same

Eurocentric values in its mission to Europeanize the lands of the “New World”. As they would say “It

is in this way that the story was based and built a story of Brazilian people at the time of colonization

by designing the "I" as higher and the "other" as inferior, absurd, intelligible threatening.”(2008,

pg.2).

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e8

Finally, my thesis will draw upon the thoughts of the abovementioned authors and XIX

century French photographers to present the similar representation of the Orientals and the

Tropicalists. I will present they way in which the mentioned concepts are overlapping in order to

reach a personal conclusion.

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e9

Tropical Photography

The period of the Enlightenment attracted various researches, scientist, and travelers to

explore Brazil. Taking Rio de Janiero as their starting point, they ‘explored’ the plants, animals and

indigenous populations. By doing so, they classified the indigenous population with the animals and

plants, not as human beings, thus, their artistic representation took the same form. As Jean França

mentions in his interview for the magazine Historia Viva, besides the strong interpretive focus on the

Brazilian botany, the perception of the native Brazilians was very present, particularly in the first

reports on the country done by the Europeans. In the eyes of the visitor, the people were lazy,

ignorant, barbaric, savage, dishonest and above all vain and lacking of intellect. Moreover, due to

the extensive mixture among the African slaves, the native Brazilians and the Europeans, there was a

racial superiority where the whiter the skin the higher the social status the person would belong to.

Today’s evidence of the life-style in 18th century Brazil is found in the extensive photography

collection by the Emperor Don Pedro II (O Brasil-império: Viajantes e artistas no século XIX).

"Picturesque" subjects such as the luxurious natural environment, the bay of Rio, the Indians, the

cities in full growth (Rio, Salvador de Bahia, Minas Gerais...) and the life of slaves, attracted a faithful

public from amongst the numerous visitors and tourists whom Brazil had begun to welcome in the

19th century (“The Brazilian Empire and Its Photographers”).

It is important to note that the photographic depiction of Brazil and its people was a

continuation of the artistic paintings done by mostly French artists which founded the French Artistic

Mission (Missão Artística Francesa) in Brazil. The French mission was supported by the King, Dom

João, and led by the professor and legislator Joachim Lebreton. It is believed that the main initiative

for the opening of school of fine arts in Rio de Janeiro was Napoleon Bonaparte’s cultural expansion

and aspiration for power (“Missão Artistica Francesa”). In painting, the artists had much simpler way

of representing an imagined, idealized picture of the tropical environment; however, as an extension

of painted imagery, photography tried its best to stage the desired scenery. The photographed

subjects were presented as backwards and exotic, contradictory to the modernization of the Second

Empire (De Tacca, 2011).

Marc Ferrez is a French photographer which depicted the native Brazilians and the Negro

slaves in staged photographs which were supposed to represent their natural environment and

behavior. Moreover, Ferrez, son of Zepherin Ferrez a sculptor who was part of the French Artistic

Mission in Brazil, was recognized as a pioneer of Brazilian photography. Official photographer of the

Marinha Imperial of the Emperor Dom Pedro II and of the Geological Commission, Ferrez closely

collaborated with picturesque painters. Throughout his galleries of pictures, he presents the

“harmonious relationship between man and nature” (Ferrez, Marc).

Ferrez’s photography is a contradictory one. He depicts the modernization of Rio de Janiero,

the construction of roads, skyscrapers and bridges on one hand, and on the other, the indigenous

Brazilians, the Negroes, the slaves and the coffee planters. Two different realities, two different

developments in one country.

The following picture is a photograph by Marc Ferrez that he took of a woman from the

Botocudos tribe from South of Bahia. On the back of the woman there is a child sleeping, depicting

the role of the woman as a mother. However, the child is in a monkey-like position, hanging on her

back as it was an extension of her body, a position that one could never see in a Western

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e10

photographic portrait (De Tacca, 2011). Furthermore, she is

measured on a scale in order to classified, distinguished as ‘the

other’. Moreover, the woman is half nude, however, not

presenting sexuality or promiscuity, but is naked to show her

floppy breasts, a non-maintenance of her beauty.

On the following picture to the left, we can see Ferrez’s

depiction of a group of Native Indians from the tribe Bororo. As

the picture above, this one as well is taken in a studio, staged to

look as the native people are in their ‘natural’ environment.

Behind them there is a poster of nature, and even the vase with

flowers (on the right) is part of the poster.

The two pictures are

creating a reality of the native

Brazilian Indians which is later

presented to the Western

audience, who perceives these

pictures as absolute true. It is a

documentary depiction, a

museum-like illustration of the

native’s posture, clothes and

weapons.

According to Jean França,

the one to blame for the racial

discrimination and the inferior representation of the non-Europeans is the Western civilization

brought by the Portuguese, but wrongly adapted to the Tropics (“Viagantes viam um Brasil

degenerado”).

Botocudos from South of Bahia, 1875 (1)

(2)

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e11

From Tropicalist to Orientalist Photography

Even though the Orient and the Tropics have never actually met (academically) similarities

between the two are easily noticeable. Particularly, seen from a Eurocentric point of view, both were

uncivilized, lacking in governments, in infrastructure, in urbanization and education, hence it was a

justification for European presence in these territories.

The photographic depictions from Brazil and Algeria, for instance, are receiving the same

way of cultural interpretation by the West. Both are presented as non-European, savage and weird.

As seen in the photographs of Ferrez, the people are objectified, classified and profiled, scaled to

documentary preservation. In the Oriental photography, the same patterns of representation are

noticed. As presented bellow, the photography of Rudolf Lehnert and Ernst Landrock depicts the

mysterious beauty of the Orient woman, the harem and the architectural art.

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e12

Orientalist Photography

During colonial times, the Orient represented a mystical, magical place which was to be

studied by the Western explorers and government officials. It represented everything non-European,

barbaric, exotic, erotic, unknown and un-civilized. Later on, as a branch of post-colonial theory,

Orientlaism becomes an influential theory firstly introduced by Edward Said, outlining the Western

attitude and stereotyping towards the Eastern peoples (Said 1978).

The western representation of the Orient, however, exposed a very static and monotonic

imagery, as Said has mentioned, “as if they have consensually agreed on one common

representation” (p. 20). Moreover, Sut Jhally explaines in the introduction to the video “Edward Said

On Orientalism”, “The central argument to Orientalism is that the way we acquire this knowledge is

not innocent or objective” and that the portrayal “is through a lens that distorts the actual reality of

that place or the people”. The colonial discourse used signs, symbols and other patterns to objectify

the subordinate people and it was a mean of justifying the imperial presence over the colonized

people. Meanwhile, by defining ‘the other’, the Westerners defined themselves and strengthened

their superior political, cultural and economic position.

Orientalist photography is a firsthand evidence of the colonialist approach of the French,

English or German photographer. The photographers were mainly French due to France’s invasion of

Algeria in 1830. Later on, during the 1850’s photography succeeds realist painting. The photographs

were staged, performed in a studio and striped from any western presence in the region, trying to

depict the ‘natural’ environment of the local population. The Western demand dictated the

photographer’s models, thus the demand of non-Western exotic women dominated the postcards

imagery (“Imperialism in North Africa”). Therefore, the manipulation of reality created a distorted

scene which reflected domination, power, influence and fame over the colonized subjects.

Moreover, the idealization of the photographed subjects seems more a document, as a scientific

record prepared to be presented to the western audience itself (Saana, 2014).

However, this doesn’t mean that we need to discard the existence of the Orient. The Orient

is a real place that actually exists, however the discourse used for its definition in post-colonial

theory, examines the complex relationship between representation and the truth (Kennedy 2000,

p.22).

Two photographers who have ‘explored’ in details the Oriental women were the partners in

work Rudolf Lehnert and Ernst Landrock. Lehnert was a Bohemian photographer which later

becomes French national by marriage, was gazed by the first trip to Tunis that he decided to live in

the Orient. He photographed many girls from the Ouled Nail tribe. Moreover, he lived, dressed and

behaved as the local population, traveling by caravan. Later on, he started working in Egypt and

Palestine. Landrock, as Rudolf’s partner cooperated in the photography studio opened in Tunis and

Leipzig and accompanied him for most of his photographic carrier (Lehnert and Landlock).

Through their photographs they demonstrate sexuality, promiscuity, erotism, mysticism,

savageness and freedom which the Ocidental women do not in reality have. They staged lazy, half-

naked woman smiling as if wanting to charm the viewer and as if they were calling him to explore

the uncivilized Oriental lands and get a taste of the ‘other’.

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e13

As seen in the photo (to the right (3)), it seems as

she is opening the door of the harem to the Western

male observer and revealing the beauty and mystery

hiding underneath the burka (the woman’s dress cloth).

Moreover, a contrast is made to highlight the skin tone of

the young lady, noticeably distinguishable from the

Western white women. This idealized imaginary is far

from reality. In Tunisia where most of the population is of

Islamic religious orientation and follows a strict dressing

code, it is hard to believe that one could see nude woman

walking around the streets. Thus, this model is either

paid, is either a slave which has specific orders from her

master (“Imperialism in North Africa”).

The second picture (4), again presents the daily,

uncomplicated business of being a native Moore and

simply walk around the streets. The subject, the girl, is

objectified, it is made for the viewer to gaze her in his

leisure. Her dull view and her nonchalant posture are

capturing the laziness and open sexuality, whereas the

palm branch represents her direct relation with nature,

her native instinct of savageness. Furthermore, the

background wall and the floor are covered with typical

Islamic tiles, famous by its geometric forms and colors

and also very particular for that region. Overall, it seems

as the woman is naturally blended with the scenery.

Thus, the representation of the Moorish woman

was an exotic escape of the middle class white Frenchman through

the imagination of the sexual possibilities of the “savage” woman. These pictures are like a calendar,

a prism through which the European people can see the rest of the world.

Rudolf Lehnert and Ernst Landrock (3)

Lehnert and Landrock-Bedouine (4)

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e14

Comparative analysis

Part of the imperialistic discourse is the usage of power knowledge to create sings and

symbols used in the photography that are mostly understood by European audience. Signs of

savagery, sexuality, racial difference, mysticism, lazyness and even naturalism are used in the

scenery to deliver the desired message. Professor and art historian Norman Bryson in his essay

“Semiology and Visual Interpretation” mentions that, “If we want to understand art, then first we

must look at the base, to the questions of who owns the means of production and distribution of

wealth, to what constitutes the dominant class, to the ideology this class uses to justify its power;

and then to the art, and to painting, as aspects of that legitimation and that monopoly”. Moreover,

he says that sign and discourse are a reflection of a reality constructed by the ones who hold the

power in a given society. Hence, most of the social art is a reflection of a reality which is factored,

produced, owned, dominant or dominated and due to these reasons, art should not be seen as an

isolated field from economics or politics (Thomas 2001, p. 89-101).

It is interesting to notice that in Brazil wider photographic subjects were offered to the

photographer, i.e. the social stratification was more intermingled and wide in comparison to the

Orient where the main actors were the colonizes and the locals. Moreover, in the Tropics, the focus

is not greatly put upon the woman’s sexuality as done in the Orient. Perhaps because in Brazil the

savageness and the wilderness of the indigenous woman and men was more provocative and more

interesting, where as in the Orient, the mysterious harem of the wealthy men made space for

greater imagination of the woman in it.

The interesting encounter between the Brazilian and the Oriental culture is explored by

Fryere as a fuse caused by Portuguese colonization of Brazil. The Moorish culture is evident in

Brazilian architecture (particularly the adaptation of tiles with geometrical forms and bright colors),

culture (particularly music) and art (pg. 243).

The similarity in weather conditions between Brazil and Morocco was drastically different

from the experience of the European photographer or traveler; however the tropical conditions

seem to be the most fascinating segment for him. As an extension to the hot weather and rich

vegetation, the European perceived the local population with similar lenses, making the people

integrated part of the tropics, interpreting them as strongly connected with nature, uncivilized and

savage.

Photography has power without asking for it. A picture doesn’t simply present a moment

stuck in time, but also expresses emotions, social, economic, political situations, human relations

and most importantly is a presentation of an objective reality. We take the meaning of the

photograph to be natural, obvious and trustworthy when in fact it may conceal social beliefs and

attitudes worth noticing and questioning” (Rogers, n.d.).

Under the question of why Brazil looks so Oriental, Freyre answers “because there has

always been in Brazil something Oriental in contrast to its Western characteristics; something

“Moorish” (pg. 257). Even though Fryere focuses on architectural similarities, we can go beyond and

say that both, the Orient and Brazil, are perceived as non-Western, interpreted under Eurocentric

microscope.

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e15

Conclusion

It is important to note that this kind of photography is not limited in the period of the XIX

century only. Tourist agencies and travel advertisements still use this type of imagery to seduce the

rich tourist to visit the tropical lands.

Photographs are not merely capturing a moment; they are a form of souvenir, objects and

symbols of imperial expansion framed by white superiority, they are legitimized and reinforce

gender and racial stereotypes. Moreover, they are documents of culture even though they are

socially constructed; they capture the essence of the view of the Western photographers, their

power and their discourse (Burns, 2005) which is a result from a colonial past. As Burn mentions:

“colonialism…constructs a certain regime of truth by transforming ‘other’ cultures into objects of

analysis.”

Fryere presents a more contemporary critic of Eurocentric discourse and interpretation

“There seems to be a tendency among certain Anglo-Americans to use disparagingly the words

“Latin American”, under the impression that in America what is Latin is always inferior to what is

Anglo-Saxon or Nordic. It is a tendency similar to the one using disparagingly the adjectives

“medieval”, or “Moorish” in their relation to modern civilization, as if the Middle Ages or the East

had not given mankind values superior to the ones that come to man from the generally glorified

age of Enlightenment or that have come to him only since the commercial and the industrial

revolutions in the West…” (pg. 260). Fryere criticizes the European colonizers from the beginning of

the colonial history and he interprets the Anglo-Saxon and European cultural imperialism as a result

of the colonialism. As if time has stopped and the static interpretation and imagery of the “other” is

still stereotyped, underestimated and humiliating. Later he adds “They consider themselves

biologically, culturally and totally superior to the strange peoples they found to such un-European

and, to their eyes, absolutely inferior surroundings-physically and culturally inferior” (Fryere, pg

267).

And finally, I hoped that globalization would create space for the ‘peripheral’ critics, artists

and intellectuals to express the submission and expose the imperial colonial discourse used by the

West. However, I agree with Fryere when he says that “In the current state of globalisation, the still

so-called peripheral art is attempting to raise a voice of its own. Within this framework, those

concepts recall an external analytical inventory by which this emerging voice is placed again as a

passive object rather than an active subject of contemporary cultural discourse. Globalisation has

not overcome the historic dissociation between the ‘namer’ and the named of cultural geographies.”

(Fryere, pg 270).

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e16

Gallery of Additional Photographers

Kuêk- Indiginous Hunting

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e17

Reference:

“Colonialism”. New World Encyclopedia. Viewed April 2014.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/colonialism

“Ferrez, Marc”. 2013.Itau Cultural. Viewed April 2014.

http://www.itaucultural.org.br/aplicExternas/enciclopedia_ic/index.cfm?fuseaction=artistas_biografia&cd

_verbete=2607&cd_idioma=28555&cd_item=1

“Imperialism in North Africa”. Women in World History. Viewed April 2014.

http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/modules/lesson9/lesson9.php?s=3

“The Brazilian Empire and Its Photographers”. 2005. Musee d’Orsay. Viewed April 2014.

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/events/exhibitions/archives/exhibitions-

archives/browse/12/article/lempire-bresilien-et-ses-photographes-

4232.html?S=1&tx_ttnews[backPid]=252&cHash=0d966d83c8&print=1&no_cache=1&

“The Tropics are Everywhere”. nd. http://metropolism.com/magazine/2006-no1/het-tropische-is-

overal/english. Viewed May 2014.

Andrew Milner, Jeff Browitt. 2002. Contemporary Cultural Theory: An Introduction. Routledge

Burns, P. 2005. Six Postcards from Arabia: A visual discourse of colonial travelers in the Orient. Published

by: SAGE journals. http://tou.sagepub.com/content/4/3/255

De Tacca, Fernando. 2011. “The Indian in Brazilian photography: incursions into image and medium”.

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-59702011000100012

Delphino, Cristine. 2010. “Missão Artistica Francesa”. Historia Brasileira. Viewed April 2014.

http://www.historiabrasileira.com/brasil-imperio/missao-artistica-francesa/

França, Jean Marcel Carvalho. “Viagantes viam um Brasil degenerado”. nd. Interview in Historia Viva.

Viewed April 2014. http://www2.uol.com.br/historiaviva/reportagens/-

viajantes_viam_um_brasil_degenerado-.html

Goldie, Matthew Boyd. 2010. The Idea of the Antipodes: Place, People, and Voices. Routledge.

NY.http://books.google.com.br/books?id=b1eOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6&dq=orientalism+and+tropic

alism&source=bl&ots=FFE0yScbBH&sig=LZGXgeAYL3QKgvC0l0w1UnBL5a0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-

GZmU5f9KrfIsAT6yoHIBw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=orientalism%20and%20tropicalism&f=false

Jhally, Sut. 1998. “Edward Said on Orientalism”. Viewed April 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgpv3hHy5fU

Kabanni, R. 1986. Europe’s Myths of Orient: Devise and Rule. London: Machmilian.

Lehnert and Landlock, Bookshop and Art Gallery. http://lehnertandlandrock.net/bio.html

O inicio do seculo XIX Brasileiro a partir da Pintura Historica. 2008. Mneme – Revista de Humanidades.

UFRN. Caicó (RN), v. 9. n. 24, Set/out. ISSN 1518-3394.http://www.cerescaico.ufrn.br/mneme/anais/

Oliveira ,Liélia Barbosa and Tavares da Silva, Emeson. 2008. Anais do II Encontro Internacional da Histori

Colonial. Mneme – Revista de Humanidades. UFRN. Caicó (RN), v. 9. n. 24, ISSN 1518-3394. Available at:

www.cerescaico.ufrn.br/mneme/anais

Julijana Nicha 2014

Pag

e18

Picture (1) and (2). Viewed April 2014. http://tropicalizer.blogspot.com.br/2013/04/orientalism-women-

and-photography-in.html

Rogers, G. n.d. Notes from the Photographic Message by Ronald Barthes.

Saana. “The native woman from the colonialist perspective and Orientalism”. 2014. Royal Engineers

Museum, Museum blog. Viewed April 2014. http://www.re-museum.co.uk/blog/the-native-woman-from-

the-colonialist-perspective-and-orientalism/