Essay on Role of Images During the Colonization Period
Images and any form of photography plays a key role in contemporary society for decades now. It represents a type of art that is unique, communicative, and representative of the human heritage that has been existent for long. Moreover, images present visual-mind on a particular memory in history. As such, images are seen as important tools that can be used to preserve a situation in contemporary society.[1]During the imperialist era, images were widely applicable by both the colonizers and the countries that were colonized. For instance, the competition between the spread of the conquest applied the use of images and photography to relay important messages to society. Images are part of ancient art that began several years ago.[2] At this time, most countries were against it and the competition between the European colonizers and colonies led to a conflict. In the spread of their western culture, many European countries applied the use of images to communicate as many of their colonies could neitherspeak nor understand English. It is essential to understand the contribution that images made to the competition between European states and colonies.
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First, images have epistemic value in society and play a key part in providing information. As such, many people in the past found it easy to relate images to particular instances. Photos portray information on what values the artist wants the society to view in general. For instance, colonizers used photos to depict their culture as superior to African morals and values. An example of a region that Europeans applied photography to influence culture is sub-Saharan Africa. In these countries, photography was their strongest weapon in an attempt to assimilate them. Legitimately, the colonial powers applied photos to showcase their apparent supremacy over Africans. To the whites, Africans were uncivilized, and the introduction of photography helps mark a time in history that Africans were opposingspread of important knowledge. Furthermore, images provided information that reinforced what the white man was spreading on civilization and Europe as a continent. This information portrayed Africa as a place of slavery and suffering, which was the case at that particular time. Such information could only be relayed then through photography, highlighting the role of images during the colonial era. The following image is an example of an art that portrayed the ability that the whites had as compared to their colonies. The white women standing behind are depicted to be providing essential teachings on how to use a sewing machine. From the picture, one can easily understand that Europeans were superior to their colonies. The dress codes of the women seated also speak volumes as compared to what the Europeans are wearing. It shows decency in western culture as opposed to what the blacks are wearing. As such, images served to depict how westernized the Europeans were while portraying Africa as a poverty-stricken continent full of slaves. Through such images, most of those colonized were easily convinced and assimilated by the new western culture.This is evident of the role that images played during the colonial period.
Source: Mabry, Hannah. 2014. Photography, Colonialism And Racism. Ebook. https://www.usfca.edu/sites/default/files/arts_and_sciences/international_studies/photography_colonialism_and_racism_-_university_of_san_francisco_usf.pdf.
Images were used to glorify various victories of their empires, leaders, and culture during the colonial era. There are many monuments of various leaders, who have won battles against the conquest. For instance, the Romans havetriumphal paintings that are indicative of the previous history on victories won, the cult of their emperors and importantly, conquests. Furthermore, the Romans later emulated, accepted, expropriate, and copied cultures of the regions that they conquered. Additionally, Romans were influenced by architecture and sculpture from the Greeks. Images played an important in spreading the will of the white man throughout the conquest. In repulsion, colonies developed paintings that were against the colonization, moves that called for action against many Europeans. Many statues have been erected to depict strong and determined people who fought fearlessly to win battles in their territori
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