Beyond the Lens: Photography in Asia Series
Self-Portrait, Annapurna Dutta (Zenana Studio) c. 1920; The private collection of Siddhartha Ghosh
Beyond the Lens: Photography in Asia Lecture Series
TAASA Monday Night Zoom Lectures 5.30 – 6.30pm
Photography in Asia provides a visual entry into the cultural and social practices of the region. This series of 5 lectures explores how photography has shaped, and continues to reshape some aspects of region’s colonial and post-colonial histories, politics and social landscapes.
Lectures
Cost: Members $15; Non-members $25
Special price for the whole series: Members $60; Non-Members $85
Book for single lecture or whole series. Payment in advance essential. No refunds.
Lecture 1
Isidore van Kinsbergen: Photo Pioneer in the Dutch-East Indies
Presented by Marianne Hulsbosch, Sydney
Monday, 7 April 2025
The introduction of photography into the Dutch East Indies during the mid 19th Century was an opportunity for individuals to open photographic studios. Very soon the Dutch colonial government used the new technology to record local society and they engaged Isidore van Kinsbergen as a ‘scientific photographer’ to document, amongst other things, Javanese antiquities. This presentation will introduce the work of Van Kinsbergen and investigate how his images shaped the visual identity of the Dutch East Indies.
Lecture 2
Peranakans and Photography: Invention, Reinvention and the Camera's Role in Cultural Disorder
Presented by Peter Lee, Singapore
Monday, 5 May 2025
Images of Peranakans from the dawn of photography to the present, expose the long and complex relationship between cameraman, camera and subject. The dynamic negotiations between these three principal elements produced diverse results, depending on countless variables from the mood of the cameraman, the lighting, and the technical capacities of the camera, to the expression and pose of the subject.
Lecture 3
Burdens of Proof: Photographic Evidence and Contested Pasts
Presented by Susie Protschky, Amsterdam
Monday, 2 June 2025
Tensions between photographs as ‘evidence’ and the more complex histories of violence and resistance can contest historical memory. I will examine the burdens of proof that are commonly placed on war photography and images from colonial contexts.
Lecture 4
Death Photography: Commemorating the Dead Through Photography in East Asia
Presented by Jeehey Kim, Tucson, Arizona
Monday, 4 August 2025
Funerary portrait photographs signal the absent presence of the deceased, testifying to the existence of invisible ancestral spirits This presentation draws upon my dissertation titled “Death and Photography in East Asia: Funerary Use of Portrait Photography,” which compares the practice of funerary photo portraiture in China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam by examining the basic concepts underpinning it.
Lecture 5
Popular Photography and the Making of Modern Indonesia
Presented by Karen Strassler, New York
Monday, 1 September 2025
When Indonesia proclaimed its independence from Dutch colonial rule in 1945, the inhabitants of this vast archipelago characterized by a profusion of religions, languages, and cultures had little in common with each other beyond a desire to throw off the yoke of colonial rule. In this talk, I will discuss how popular photographic practices enabled this diverse collection of people to begin to see themselves as modern Indonesians.
Carte de Visite of Woodbury & Page Photographers in Java 1870
