Eye Contact

Photographing Indigenous Australians

Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, Photography, Pictorials, Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions, History, Australia & Oceania, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Eye Contact by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas ISBN: 9780822387251
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: January 25, 2006
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
ISBN: 9780822387251
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: January 25, 2006
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

An indigenous reservation in the colony of Victoria, Australia, the Coranderrk Aboriginal Station was a major site of cross-cultural contact the mid-nineteenth century and early twentieth. Coranderrk was located just outside Melbourne, and from its opening in the 1860s the colonial government commissioned many photographs of its Aboriginal residents. The photographs taken at Coranderrk Station circulated across the western world; they were mounted in exhibition displays and classified among other ethnographic “data” within museum collections. The immense Coranderrk photographic archive is the subject of this detailed, richly illustrated examination of the role of visual imagery in the colonial project. Offering close readings of the photographs in the context of Australian history and nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century photographic practice, Jane Lydon reveals how western society came to understand Aboriginal people through these images. At the same time, she demonstrates that the photos were not solely a tool of colonial exploitation. The residents of Coranderrk had a sophisticated understanding of how they were portrayed, and they became adept at manipulating their representations.

Lydon shows how the photographic portrayals of the Aboriginal residents of Coranderrk changed over time, reflecting various ideas of the colonial mission—from humanitarianism to control to assimilation. In the early twentieth century, the images were used on stereotypical postcards circulated among the white population, showing what appeared to be compliant, transformed Aboriginal subjects. The station closed in 1924 and disappeared from public view until it was rediscovered by scholars years later. Aboriginal Australians purchased the station in 1998, and, as Lydon describes, today they are using the Coranderrk photographic archive in new ways, to identify family members and tell stories of their own.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

An indigenous reservation in the colony of Victoria, Australia, the Coranderrk Aboriginal Station was a major site of cross-cultural contact the mid-nineteenth century and early twentieth. Coranderrk was located just outside Melbourne, and from its opening in the 1860s the colonial government commissioned many photographs of its Aboriginal residents. The photographs taken at Coranderrk Station circulated across the western world; they were mounted in exhibition displays and classified among other ethnographic “data” within museum collections. The immense Coranderrk photographic archive is the subject of this detailed, richly illustrated examination of the role of visual imagery in the colonial project. Offering close readings of the photographs in the context of Australian history and nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century photographic practice, Jane Lydon reveals how western society came to understand Aboriginal people through these images. At the same time, she demonstrates that the photos were not solely a tool of colonial exploitation. The residents of Coranderrk had a sophisticated understanding of how they were portrayed, and they became adept at manipulating their representations.

Lydon shows how the photographic portrayals of the Aboriginal residents of Coranderrk changed over time, reflecting various ideas of the colonial mission—from humanitarianism to control to assimilation. In the early twentieth century, the images were used on stereotypical postcards circulated among the white population, showing what appeared to be compliant, transformed Aboriginal subjects. The station closed in 1924 and disappeared from public view until it was rediscovered by scholars years later. Aboriginal Australians purchased the station in 1998, and, as Lydon describes, today they are using the Coranderrk photographic archive in new ways, to identify family members and tell stories of their own.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book African American Religious Studies by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book Feeding Anorexia by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book South of Pico by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book Sex Scene by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book Intimate Outsiders by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book The Anomie of the Earth by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book The Aesthetics of Resistance, Volume I by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book Odd Couples by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book Farm, Shop, Landing by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book King Lear and the Naked Truth by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book Airborne Dreams by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book Good Bread Is Back by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book Empires of Vision by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book Tuning Out Blackness by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
Cover of the book Not Hollywood by Jane Lydon, Nicholas Thomas
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy