Comments on: Ray Bradbury’s Sun and Shadow Shines a Light on Photographic Cultural Appropriation

By: Pete McGovern

Pete McGovern — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 15:46:43 +0000

Brilliant short story.

At an Arbus retrospective at the V&A in London many years ago I asked people entering the show if they’d let me take a photograph of them then and there, and most said no. The older, more affluent looking visitors without exception refused, most would not even acknowledge me. I’m shy and this was stressful but security quickly ordered me to desist but when I carried on asking people some curator staff /security management were called to the entrance. I kept going while it was eventually reluctantly decided amongst the staff that I was entitled to continue as long as I was asking people for permission first, which I had been. As most people here will know, an Arbus exhibition is largely portraits of strangers who had been stopped in the street. Some people got the joke, and said yes.

By: David

David — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 15:25:48 +0000

Very interesting especially considering this was written in 1953. I do have some issues with this story and the “message”. It does seem to fit the anecdote from Boston, which, being from that area I can completely agree with. However, what is presented by the author is one very specific type of photography which then gets tagged with the title of “cultural appropriation” which I have always had issue with because it is vague and manipulative. This term implies a taking or removing with no return of value. In this particular case (fashion shoot) it seems to fit. However, I am sure there are a lot of photojournalists who might take exception to this branding because in their case (as I understand it), when they show the down trodden and horrible conditions people live in, it is with the intent of shinning a light on the situation so as to bring attention to the plight of the subject. In this case there is a definite return value for the image capture. Steve McCurry was cited in one of the responses and while there has been controversy over his image(s), it is also true that attention was brought to that people which had some benefit. It has been and can continue to be argued about the value of that attention, and for this discussion, that is another topic. The point is it would never had happened at all if not for Steve’s published image. My basic point is that all photographers were branded as being the bad guy in this story and that is a very broad brush indeed. What if that photographer was there to document this culture to share with a publication’s readership to increase awareness of the plight of these people? Is that the same? I don’t think so and this is the problem I have with generalizations. Having said that, very thought provoking and a worthy read. Sometimes it is good to be uncomfortable.

By: Andrew L

Andrew L — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 18:06:24 +0000

I enjoyed reading this article, and will have to pick up the short story now, because I want to experience all of the other details inside it! Thank you for directing me to it. While I don’t think there is anything wrong with photographing other cultures per se, and while I think “cultural appropriation” has been taken much too far in a culture that basically kind of looks for ways to guilt people for sport (forgive me for that cynical take), there’s definitely something to be said in the story here, something to be learned. For me, the immediate answer I would go to is “shoot what you know.” Another way of saying that would be “shoot your normal surroundings.” I believe the photographer has a lot more credibility if they’ve worked through all of their own circumstances and surroundings with the same exploratory, critical eye that they might go to an exotic location with – a version of the philosopher’s saying “know thyself.” If you’ve examined your life with the camera, you might have more solid footing to start examining others with it. At the least, you’ll have more to connect with. There are certain people who use travel photography like a pirate, plundering the riches of different cultures. Don’t be that.

By: Huss

Huss — Sat, 12 Nov 2022 00:44:53 +0000

Thought provoking piece James! I guess the ultimate example of this type of photographer is Steve McCurry. The photo that basically launched his career was Sharbat Gula aka Afghan girl in 1984. The majority of his career was spent in places like India, showing it in a Norman Rockwellian light given how the images were cleaned up in post to remove trash and other detritus, whether human or not, that affected the composition. He shows an idyllic POV, and not really one that the locals are living.
But that’s the thing, I look at the pictures, see the smiling faces, the saturated colours and it’s only when I start to the think about it more deeply do I wonder if he is unwittingly insulting, being patronizing, or celebrating the people and their culture?

By: Steve Mitchell

Steve Mitchell — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 19:48:49 +0000

Rather a prescient passage, there has always been this tension, but indigenous and minority peoples are bringing these things to our attention now, in a way that they perhaps felt unable to do in the past. Some street photography makes me cringe, because it is obvious the subject has not consented, and often the photographer has captured a moment of discomfort. That seems to me more like voyeurism than art. I do not want to be that photographer.

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 13:21:03 +0000

You are assuming a lot about a photographer’s motives when taking photos in a strange of picturesque things. The words cultural appropriation is much over used and almost always only one way.