Sunday, October 2, 2016

Rhinoceros: Reading,Photographing the Past During the Present

I wonder if we will ever live in a world where everyone can just respect each culture for what it is. I can understand human curiosity and wanting to know whats out there but sometimes things are better left alone. In Curtis's case of wanting the Native Americans to look untouched by society he was already interfering enough by being there. I know its because I have an obsession and although as a whole the movie is almost completely fiction I kept thinking about the Disney movie Pocahontas. People from the outside looking in thought they were savages. People expected Native Americans to just adapt to our culture in a day when people it had taken so long to create their own.

The most interesting topic about this article to me was about Curtis's loosing credibility in his work because his work was being staged which that in itself was already against the feeling of authenticity that he was trying to go for. The fact that he had even gone as far to have costumes and wigs to make men who had already begun to follow the white culture is just baffling to me. I just dont think that Curtis was thinking (well about people's feelings because he was probably thinking of money) when he was asking them to participate in these, in my opinion, stock photos of Native Americans. Not only that but it wasnt until much later that they were even able to have the photos that he had taken. It didnt surprise me that it was a bunch of rich white men who wanted these photos for what reason I'll never know.

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