From: Craig Koshyk (chiendog@pangea.ca)
Date: 01/24/01-11:57:26 PM Z
> CK:
>
> You're implying that a "rich white guy" would be expected to treat this
> subject in a demeaning and disrespectful manner. Why?
I did not mean to imply that anyone rich, poor or any colour of the rainbow
should be expected to treat any subject in any way.
I was making reference to a certain genre of photography that I have noticed
in some exhibitions and publications over the last few years. My unfortunate
racial faux-pas may have been caused by the lingering bad taste in my mouth
after seeing a local show not more than an month ago by, well, a rich white
guy. The photographer basically parachuted into Nepal and Tibet for a week
or two and photographed the colourfully clad local folk in the spirit of a
butterfly collector gathering his specimens. The expressions on the faces of
most of his uh...subjects were of utter discust and violation. My first
impression of the Gere book was "oh, oh here we go again". I was wrong. I
was also wrong to leave the impression that race and bank accounts, had
anything to do with Gere or the butterfly collector's sensitivity. One is a
pretty good photog, the other is an idiot. But both are in a postition to
produce the kind of work that leaves me very uncomfortable.
My pre-supposition was based on the fact that a guy like Gere has the
financial wherewithall to do exactly what the fellow in the exhibition did.
He could afford to parachute in and out of Tibet for a weekend and play big
game hunter with a Leica. As a white man he could be seen as a foreigner by
the locals and could illicit expressions and reactions that are atypical of
the people he is photographing.
The book showed just how wrong I was to lump Gere into the same pile as the
butterfly collectors out there.
Exactly how many
> other books on this subject (authored by rich white guys) offend your
> sensibilities?
The book didn't offend me at all. Exactly how many do? I really haven't been
keeping count.
>
> I've never seen the book in question,
Look it up, I think it is quite nice
Can you name these books?
Well at the risk of offending fans of the fellow, one book that made me a
bit uncomfortable is by Herb Ritts (it may in fact be by Greg Gorman, it get
the two mixed up sometimes and don't have the book in question). It is
"about" Africa. Some of the photos are actually quite pretty but I really
couldn't shake a creepy feeling the book gave me. After leafing through it,
I could not shake the image of a famous photog and his entourage swooping
into town, taking a few shots of some naked locals out in the desert and
then leaving after having dropped a few bucks on nick nacks. The stateside
show/book/poster tour that may have followed could have evoked a few ooh's
an ahh's among certain viewers and made a boat load of cash but I have to
wonder if anyone really learned anything about Africa in the process.
> Sorry if going off-topic offends anybody, but I feel that "politically
> correct racism" (as explemplified by CK's attitude) is inexcusable, and
> should be questioned.
No offence taken. Let me ask you to excuse my poor choice of words on this
one and to please let me know if you can tell me who printed the pt/pd
photos...rich, poor, green or purple.
CK
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