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Framing Globalization:Ritual Photography and Family
Snapshots in Rural China
Eriberto P. Lozada Jr.Dept. of Anthropology
Davidson College
I am a camera …§ Fieldworker as
walking electronic store§ Community
photographer, for free§ Photography as
experiments in “self-making”
Little Rome§ Homeland of the
Hakka, “Guest People” – diaspora ethnic group§ Catholic village of
about 1,000 people§ Little Rome as a
“transnational village”
Little RomeThroughout Christianity’s turbulent history in China, the persistent faith of villagers has enabled the Catholic Church to survive many movements of persecution, including the latest during the Cultural Revolution.
In good times, the Chinese Catholic Church flourishes politically and intellectually in the cities; but in bad times, which have been frequent since Christians first showed up in the Tang courts (6th century CE), the Church has survived through its rural strongholds.
Little Rome
Little Rome in 1934
Little Rome in 1996
Vernacular Photography§ photography in ritual§ Family snapshots§ Universal “Kodak
moments?Ӥ Localization of global
technology§ Photography as
“work of the imagination”
Photography in Ritual§ Rituals are “Kodak moments” – special
occasions to be recorded for posterity§ Rituals bring together people who may not
ordinarily be together§ Wedding rituals in particular – “once in a
lifetime” gendered moment for women§ Use of western bridal gowns and tuxedos for
engagement pictures§ Props from the photography studio
Photography in Ritual§ Cultural specificity in photography? Chinese funeral
photography§ Rituals are statements by ritual participants, and a
picture is worth a thousand words§ Photographs have iconic properties because of their
use in ritual
Photography in Ritual
Bridal Dowry Party, on the way to the grooms’ home, Little Rome, 1926
Funerary Photographs§ The funerary portrait§ Centrality in funerary
ritual§ Memory – who was
there§ Displayed in Ancestral
Temple and living rooms
§ Funerals often videotaped, exchanged among relatives
Funerary Photographs
Funerary Photographs
§ Photograph of deceased is one of the first things arranged in funeral
§ Principal mourner carries photograph throughout movement
§ Group photograph punctuates the funeral procession
Funerary Photographs
Funerary Photographs
Transcendent Powerof Photographs§ photography privileged over other
representations because the camera is touched by the subject?§ Photographs as icons – objectification of
charisma through its use in ritual§ Objectified charisma allows for wider
participation, renewal, redirection
Family Snapshots§ In vernacular photography, producer is
consumer
Family Snapshots§ Family
snapshots are social and moral products, as well as aesthetic
Family Snapshots§ These photographs define boundaries, continuity,
and localization of transnational processes
Family Snapshots§ Importance of group photographs
Group Photographs
§ Key Social events in Chinese culture need that “end-product” of ritual, the group photograph
§ Group photographs are maps of social networks§ Tangible proof of embeddedness in a particular social
network -- guanxi
Group Photographs§ Especially necessary for keeping deterritorialized
family, community, and networks together
Picturing Modernity§ Local framing
of photographs§ What’s in the
picture shows cosmopolitan lifestyle§ Self-presented
cultural inventory
Picturing Modernity
§ Revealing sense of self
§ Love and romance, the dominant narrative of postsocialist material culture
§ Photograph grounds her in a localized modernity – she’s cool
Picturing Modernity§ Photography is a
technology of leisure§ Importance of
leisure in a global modernity§ Consumption of
photographic technology is an exercise in choice
Localizing technology§ “Share your pictures with your friends and
family” – selling Kodak in China§ Photography as a technology is not context-
free; highly dependent upon social and cultural context§ Photography in China reveals different
conceptions of the individual and different visions of the good life§ Photography as self-making, tangible product
of the work of the imagination