It was the same “scientific” interest that allowed the “Hottentot Venus” to be shown in England and France and
then dissected; Angelo Soliman to be stuffed and put on show in Austria and the corpse of Trucanini’s lover to be fought over by bickering anthropologists
and medical researchers. Trucanini herself - she was the last Tasmanian - lived in fear of the same thing happening to her, which it did. Two years after
her death her body was disinterred and the skeleton handed over to the Royal
Society.
This is some of the historical background to the work. It is also possible to approach individual photos from a slightly different tangent.
Looking at the boatman photograph, it is the coastline that dominates - overshadowing cliffs, rocky shores - an inhospitable landing place for a would
be immigrant but a picturesque seascape for a tourist on a day trip. |
 |
But it is not just the geological formation that makes it uninviting. High up on the cliff top there is not only a protective lighthouse
sending messages to sea-borne travellers but a massive naval gun emplacement. The duty-free resort of today, the goal of 19th century holidaymakers,
functioned as a frontline fortress in various European conflicts, a surveillance post for North Sea shipping.
It is also possible to consider the emotional appeal of old (hand-coloured) photographs. In general old photos, especially those without
a strong personal connection, tend to create a feeling of disembodied nostalgia. I have tried to use that, along with the contemporaneity of the images
from which the work was made to highlight both historical issues and also modern problems relating to the perception of the other, nationalism and migration
and identity. |
