Seminar: Photographies of Asia

Catalog description

This seminar will examine various forms of photography from the mid-19th century to the contemporary period. We will begin by examining how photography played a key role in colonial constructions of racial, ethnic, and gender stereotypes of Asian people (stereotypes that persist to this day), then move on to examine how Asian artists have appropriated these constructions and the medium itself. The course asks these main questions: in what ways did local inventors and photographers create mechanisms and genres of photography different from the colonial framework? How was photography used to envision nationalist or revolutionary identities in the mid-20th century? And how do contemporary Asian artists use photography to document installations, performances, and site-specific works? The course will examine works from Korea, India, Pakistan, China, Japan, Indonesia, and Burma, as well as images of Asian people in the United States during the Gold Rush Era. Satisfies East Asian Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies Chinese Studies minor requirement.