Seminar | Constructing the portrait of Southeast Asia: Pictorial and thematic commonplaces in 19th century Southeast Asia photographs | Alexander Supartono

By Alexander Supartono. The photography scene in Southeast Asia has developed regionally since the early days of the camera. The flourishing commercial photographic studios in the region (thanks to the success of colonial enterprises) witnessed international photographers crisscrossing colonial boundaries in a complex network of partnership, competition and apprenticeship. This dynamic suggests differences and shared characteristics in the formation of photographic networks and the formulation of photographic traditions in the 19^th century Southeast Asia.

This seminar will discuss how geographical proximity, interconnected geopolitical, social and economic territories played determinant roles in the production of common visual conventions (as in landscape and studio portrait for instance) and subject matters (views, types, antiquity and industrial) in the Southeast Asian 19^th century practice of photography. It will also contextualize the visual traditions of different colonial regimes in Southeast Asia both against the question of a national history of photography and within the history of Southeast Asian photography.

Dr. Alexander Supartono is a photo historian and curator specializing in colonial photography. He is a lecturer in photography history and theory at the Edinburgh Napier University and an associate curator at Noorderlicht Photography in the Netherlands. Recent curatorial projects include The Postcolonial Photostudio (2012-present).

Please register if you wish to attend: [email protected]

Photo: Kassian Cephas, “The tram bridge over the Progo River near Sewoe Galoor, photographed from upper stream,” 1896.