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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 November 2024
Photography proved to be a powerful tool for the colonizing nations. It provided a way to further subjugate the indigenous people of the colonized countries, and also provided a new method of propaganda for the citizens at home, supporting the “just” ideas of their colonial missions. As photography continued to develop, however, new technologies helped to democratize the medium, putting it in the hands of more and more people. This disrupted the colonial government’s ability to control the dissemination of pictures and thus the representation of their endeavors. ▶5.1
After the initial inventions of Jean Louis Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot, the development of new photographic materials and processes continued at an extremely rapid pace. The discovery of the wet plate collodion and albumen processes quickly paved the way for the development of gelatin-based materials, which ultimately allowed for commercially manufactured materials. The use of gelatin supports for holding the light sensitive silver salts eventually led to greater sensitivity in films and papers, meaning that exposure times became much shorter, which eventually led to the use of handheld cameras. The mission of Kodak, a truly global enterprise, was to put a camera in every hand. The development of roll films and handheld cameras was an extremely important step in bringing this ambition to fruition.
The time between the two World Wars saw an incredible rise in photography. This was the period of modernization, and more and more of the world began to switch from an agrarian lifestyle to an urban one based on manufacturing and commercialism. Photography was the perfect medium to promote and access the increased mechanization and commodification of life. After World War I, some of the first schools promoting photography emerged, most notably the German Bauhaus. Part of the idea of some these early programs and proponents of photography was to create an entirely new vision of the world, one based largely on the formal and technical attributes inherent to photography. ▶5.2
The impact of these changes in the Indies was twofold. The new tools of photography coupled with the emerging aesthetics of modernism resulted in a more pervasive presence of photography in the colonies. The new photographers looked more closely at the private lives and cultures of the indigenous populations.
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