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Viceroy Lord Lansdowne and family, approx. 1888–1894. Albumen silver print. From the Collection of William K. Ehrenfeld, M.D., 2005.64.495
New Selection of Photographs: August 26 through January 17, 2010
The second installation of this display highlights a new group of historical photographs from the Asian Art Museum’s collection. The images reflect varied perspectives on the lives people led in Asia, and record travels people took there at the end of the nineteenth century. These views are controlled by the lens of Western and local photographers and are informed by their personal visions, official missions, and commercial motivations. The subjects range from formal portraits of princes to picturesque landscapes and architecture. The majority of the 41 works on view document life in colonial India. The remaining works feature China, Japan and Korea as their subjects. Most of the photographs date from 1850 to 1910. Together, they succeed in being more than personal memories. The photographs offer a glimpse into the ambivalent relationships between the colonizers and colonized (in the case of India), touch on issues such as perceptions of the ‘other’, and comment on the political and social realities wrought by modernity and a changing world at the turn of the century.
Photographic Memories is housed in the intimate Tateuchi Thematic Gallery located on the second floor of the museum between the Korean and Japanese galleries. Please note that the gallery will be closed on Monday, Aug 24 and Tuesday, Aug 25 to allow for the installation of the new photographs.
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