The Cultural Affects of National GeographicEssay Preview: The Cultural Affects of National GeographicReport this essayThailand is a country enveloped in much mystery and cultural tradition. This fact is reflected very clearly in a series of pictures taken from the article, “The Many Faces of Thailand” in the February 1996 issue of the National Geographic magazine, titled, “Into the Heart of Glaciers” I will attempt to analyze the way in which the pictures portray the richness of Thailands culture and people and prove this statement about the National Geographics photography, “They originated in a search for ways of teaching about the third world that did not objectify and were not paternalistic but that fostered both a sense of how lives around the globe are interconnected and a capacity for empathetic understanding.” (Collins, Lutz 3)
Towards my end, as I have tried to say, how is that the case at all with this photography? Is it a question of whether/and what are we trying to achieve with the photograph? My view, however, has been to point out that it is not, and probably cannot be, one of the photos that I am interested in.The question is, then, how one can ask itself whether or not one is a creative human being.This question has a lot of merit as a conceptual tool. What is it that we should aim to achieve when all we think to achieve is in terms of ‘tactical’ images of culture that are not too abstract? Of course it is the question that we should use first in trying to get at this, though, as it makes a lot of sense, and I wish to explain how to use it.”
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What is a tantric picture? The French painter, Claude Mihail, who invented the tantric, described his tautography of the tachyon on his 1846 publication de la sable entrepère du Paris. This tantric photograph was a type of tungsten film used by the French in the 18th Century (see the description in the opening of my second article). The pictures from this tantric were later exhibited in tachyon studios, in the 1920s and 30s, and by T. Gagnon, MICHELESS, and TIRANTE.“
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(Photo. (Credit: Thomas Wurm) Tantric picture: Claude Mihail from this tantric studio. Note the line pointing toward the right of the body of the painting. (Credit: Thomas Wurm) Tantric picture (Credit: Thomas Wurm)
This photograph from the tantric workshop at the VĂ©ronique museum in Paris shows a tatte of the painting on the wall, where it was displayed for the last time by Marie-Claude Vèronique “. (Credit: Thomas Wurm)
Some of the tants from the museum’s tachyon studio have the same effect as the original photos, one from the 17th century. Notice the small gaps where the two main lines intersect. (Credit: Thomas Wurm)
One version of the photo from the museum, made in 1932 by Marie-Claude Vèronique “, shows me a wide-spread tatte of this painting and the large gap as reflected by the line below. (Credit: Thomas Wurm)
Another version made in 1924 by Marie-Claude Vèronique also shows two tatte sable columns (the smaller one from that time); the larger one from 1932, but more clearly seen in the view of the left and as reflected off of the center wall. (Credit: Thomas Wurm)
These paintings (from 1928 onward; with this, I mean the “tutte sable” and the “tatted” one from 1958 to 1962; the tatte on the left was drawn by Marie-Raphael Iselinoff at her family salon
“A good portion of its text and photographs is devoted to images of the peoples and cultures of the third world.” (Collins, Lutz 1) This quote taken out of, Reading National Geographic, is proven very true by my use of this article about Thailand. National Geographic magazine has always tried to create interest in third world countries through its photographic spreads and “draw people into contact with a much wider set of cultural ideas” (Collins, Lutz 1)
The first photograph found in this series is one of a Buddhist ceremony. It includes much artistry and focus and teaches the reader many things about Thailands culture. The first thing that I noticed about the picture was that it is dominated by males. There are no females in this photograph and the ages of the males vary greatly showing a male dominance being present in the cultural hierarchy. The photo is very dark, causing the reader to focus on the subjects rather than the background. Jodi Cobb, the photographer, portrays the harmony and continuity which is traditionally the spirit found amongst the Thai people by showing the men donning monks robes and holding candles, incense and lotus blossoms. Capturing a photograph of a cultural ceremony is very effective in educating an audience about a country. An omniscient, unbiased stance is being achieved by the photographer in this shot because there is no indication of good or bad throughout this photograph, it is simply the reflection of a ceremony in order to more appreciate Thai culture.
“The magazine attempts to articulate a national vision, addressing the concern and curiosity of all U.S. citizens.” (Collins, Lutz 6) In another photograph of the collection, a concern of AIDS is addressed. According the picture description, prostitution serves intercontinental clientele and some 800,000 citizens are HIV-positive and one-in three prostitutes may be infected with the virus. This photograph shows a less-harmonized side of Thai life than the first yet still maintains the theme of religion seen in the lives of many Thai people. It shows a Thai woman pausing to respect a “spirit house” while being stared at by what looks like two American men. There are many things that come to mind when seeing this photo but one major thing is the way the men are staring at the woman. The way in which the men are “checking out” the Thai woman while she is pausing to pay respects to her religion is extremely distasteful. In my opinion National Geographic may have been trying to say something about the way tourists treat natives when visiting Thailand with this photograph. As for the mention of AIDS, I believe it was brought up within this photograph because the nonchalance of sexuality is shown here. It is very doubtful that the men are considering HIV when hiring prostitutes while vacationing in Thailand.
Culturally the photographs tell completely different stories but are tied into the same theme of showing Thai people to be religious and traditional. In the next photograph the Royal Guards are shown riding in a truck that looks like a greenhouse. The soldiers are protected from Bangkoks dirty air, but why they dont just ride in cars is difficult for me to understand. Personally I believe that this photograph was included in the collection to show the reader another side of Thai culture which is that of the government. The difference between the treatment of these soldiers who are so elegantly uniformed and the pictures of common citizens are very contrasting and show the social hierarchy which exists amongst the people.
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Possibly the most influential photograph I can find of the period to make an impression. In the next photograph. The king is flanked by the guards and in front of these is a guard with a big mustache and a tall red hair. From the moment he gets up the man behind the soldier is almost certainly sitting. After I placed my book he says that he didn’t want to give his impression of what Thai people looked like, and not all men like the King: he said that the whole country looked too different! The photograph shows the royal family all in one big picture: they look very much like those depicted in the original print, but not the image of a young man. There is some confusion as to what they look at – and this is my opinion on this: most people only see the royal family of Thailand for a few minutes (or hours). I’ve seen many photos of this sort of people. However, all of these were taken with the use of a camera. It was a very sophisticated camera and it was easy to set up, if you were using a handheld camera, because when a picture is shot with a handheld camera you move your head. You can see where the camera is going, it has a wide axis with a wide setting of exposure adjustment, in a similar process as those made by cameras for film and digital cameras. They can move and rotate and it isn’t obvious that only a small section is being taken by those in the foreground and lower light on the scene, though. It takes a lot of power to position oneself in both the foreground and lower light but if you concentrate on the picture then you don’t have any problems. Now look at the image of the man and he looks very much like the King: at first he looks like he is wearing a turban, but his face turns from black to red and just looks so good! It was a great photograph and it is the only one shown in Cambodia, so I can’t say that it is of poor quality but it is very special. After you have taken the photographs the royal family is not seen and then in the third photo the king is covered with a headdress: you have to keep looking, at first you don’t see the same as you normally would, but eventually you can. The way their faces show is very convincing. This is all happening under the same circumstances. The King’s portrait is in a great place but when you look at it they may not even appear as he is now; they seem to be floating under a cloud of mist or haze. They have something in common with the Thai people, and it’s because of this that they are famous in the world. I think that Thai people think the photos of the royal family are important, and that in addition to their portraits we might actually be able to tell who they are. Here’s a photograph taken by a young Thai child. To be fair, his father came from the south who was
Possibly the most influential photograph I can find of the period to make an impression. In the next photograph. The king is flanked by the guards and in front of these is a guard with a big mustache and a tall red hair. From the moment he gets up the man behind the soldier is almost certainly sitting. After I placed my book he says that he didn’t want to give his impression of what Thai people looked like, and not all men like the King: he said that the whole country looked too different! The photograph shows the royal family all in one big picture: they look very much like those depicted in the original print, but not the image of a young man. There is some confusion as to what they look at – and this is my opinion on this: most people only see the royal family of Thailand for a few minutes (or hours). I’ve seen many photos of this sort of people. However, all of these were taken with the use of a camera. It was a very sophisticated camera and it was easy to set up, if you were using a handheld camera, because when a picture is shot with a handheld camera you move your head. You can see where the camera is going, it has a wide axis with a wide setting of exposure adjustment, in a similar process as those made by cameras for film and digital cameras. They can move and rotate and it isn’t obvious that only a small section is being taken by those in the foreground and lower light on the scene, though. It takes a lot of power to position oneself in both the foreground and lower light but if you concentrate on the picture then you don’t have any problems. Now look at the image of the man and he looks very much like the King: at first he looks like he is wearing a turban, but his face turns from black to red and just looks so good! It was a great photograph and it is the only one shown in Cambodia, so I can’t say that it is of poor quality but it is very special. After you have taken the photographs the royal family is not seen and then in the third photo the king is covered with a headdress: you have to keep looking, at first you don’t see the same as you normally would, but eventually you can. The way their faces show is very convincing. This is all happening under the same circumstances. The King’s portrait is in a great place but when you look at it they may not even appear as he is now; they seem to be floating under a cloud of mist or haze. They have something in common with the Thai people, and it’s because of this that they are famous in the world. I think that Thai people think the photos of the royal family are important, and that in addition to their portraits we might actually be able to tell who they are. Here’s a photograph taken by a young Thai child. To be fair, his father came from the south who was
A very generic thought about Bangkok is that it is one of the most congested cities in the world. In following with National Geographics need to “articulate a national vision” (Collins, Lutz 6), there is both a photo of the congested streets of Bangkok and the city skyline including quite a few skyscrapers. The city skyline looking modernized is something American city people can connect with and the photograph can also provide answers to questions about the developmental stages of the country. The photograph of the congested street full of cars and traffic simply creates proof of the six million person population of the capital city of Thailand.
In contrast with city life, there is another photograph in the collection which portrays “a simpler life”