During my studies in art I came into contact with anthropometric photography and was deeply touched by the inhumane western view of other cultures.
Our current image of other cultures is still largely influenced by the time that anthropometric photographs were massively used to divide the human race into different categories. The Caucasian race was considered to be the most civilized. Artist Antje Van Wichelen challenges this way of imaging and gave inspiration for this research. Her work shows an original reconstruction of dehumanized individuals from the colonial era of the late 19th early 20th century, hereby forcing the spectator to reflect. My research analyzes the context, creation, reproduction and archiving of anthropometric photographs to understand how this form of photography came about. Resulting insights form the basis how western colonial anthropometric photo collections can be disclosed in a 21st-century reference frame.
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The research continuous in analyzing the western image forming of other civilizations and in art history.