I’ve been reading the book “Our People, Our Land, Our Images” and something that Hulleah J. Tsinhhnahjinnie said is where I think I’ll be developing my thesis…”The very same medium that exacerbated colonial tensions is now used as a tool for Indigenous empowerment and sovereignty by exerting an authority over how, when, and why Indigenous peoples choose to be imaged.” This little statement can be further examined in terms of technological intent of the camera, which is something that philosopher Willem Flusser discusses…because it’s a Western technology, does that necessarily change the empowerment and the sovereignty Indigenous people have recovered? What I mean by this is the self-representation afforded to them adulterated in some way so that it’s almost a facade, a shadow of the true representation? I suppose this could be said of all photographs. In the long run Aboriginal self-representation, will, I believe move into the realm of art, which is something that Ursula Johnson alludes to in her TED talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HHvaZKFgRA

My fear is once in the realm of art it becomes again an object to be placed inside a museum or a gallery. This is where a fine line between living out cultural obligations/aspirations becomes important to self-representation. The photograph itself is merely a representation, and that must never be forgotten or supersede what goes on in the real world.

Tsinhnahjinnie, H., & Passalacqua, V. (2006). Our people, our land, our images: international indigenous photographers. Davis, Calif.: C.N. Gorman Museum, University of California, Davis