Notes on Otherness

Photography as a Critical Practice – David Bate

Otherness in contextual practice

Overall I found many of the essays within the book were unable to provide a salient argument. Although Interesting and highly relevant to my research, the essays took a fairly wide view of ethics, otherness and subjective perspective, all of which lacked the direct challenge that the subject needs. The areas that were significant to my understanding were the passages on Identity and responsibility for public perception. The subject of Power and empathy is such a telling factor within social documentary photography that it sometimes requires a direct approach to unravel all the parts with a forensic touch. Taking a wide academic approach can skirt around the issue without ever establishing where photography has fallen foul and advanced the very attitudes that it now reflects upon; I may have to re-read as It is possible I am guilty looking too hard for arguments that support or oppose my central question in the extended project.

David Bate refers to ‘otherness’ as a form of alienation of Identity and observes that by identifying otherness we are being ‘other’ to ourselves. Although this appears a little confusing the theory opens up by commenting on the way we project our own identity onto others. This is an area I have often considered within subjective bias and personal/political ideology. Bate calls this an internal foreign dynamic and has little to do with the exact appearance of the external figure and yet can find themselves the recipient of this internal ‘other’. We have to consider what we admit as other to ourselves.

I have read a similar text regarding colonialism in Daniel Blights ‘The image of whiteness’. The sense of our own visual understanding has to be established. How do we see skin colour ourselves, before projecting our subconscious or conscious thoughts upon others.

I have read sections of the essays within this book. Some sections are a little  more challenging than others, however, the introduction is extremely valid and poignant within the realms of my extended project           

Within the chapter ‘Critical Practice’ there is an observation about the way in which children are used to represent a sign of innocence as a victim and aligns this to a consensual representation which forms a social picture of society. Within my research I have looked at ways in which photography may have been partly responsible for the media’s perception of negative attitudes towards poverty. Bate looks at the use of children to signify destitution as a damaging way to form a social picture and force public opinion, Bate refers this to a type of collective representation that constitutes the  semantics of reality      

The theme continues in the fourth chapter where  Photography’s part within a colonial vision is  questioned and whether there is justification to propose that the art form advanced attitudes. The colonial gaze is certainly addressed, although spends considerable text describing the authenticity of three photographs. I am not entirely sure what this adds to the understanding of otherness or colonial power.

There are implied notes on the level of superiority cast upon the subjects, although the chapter on Colonial vision felt a little light on colonial stereotyping and ethnography. There appears to be a reluctance to be self critical about photographs part in dehumanizing whole cultures, and this particular essay felt as if it were treading on eggshells too much.