PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE PERFORMANCE OF HISTORY

Author(s): ELIZABETH EDWARDS

Source: Kronos, No. 27, Visual History (November 2001), pp. 15-29
Published by: University of Western Cape
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 PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE PERFORMANCE OF
HISTORY
ELIZABETH EDWARDS
PittRiversMuseum,University
ofOxford

I wantto startwithtwoquotes,fromtwoverydifferent historianswhoseworkI

admiregreatlyand whichforma sub-textto thisarticle.*
FirstElizabethTonkin
and
quoting paraphrasing Karen Barber:

To understand orikiA[a formof Yorubapraisechant]... youhaveto

see themas a veryspecific,intenseand heightenedformof dia-
logue,in whichthesilentpartner is as crucialas thespeaker[forour
contextsherereadviewer]... it is clearthatthedramaticcommuni-
cationof orikichants[herereadphotograph] is at theheartof very
far-reaching processesof social action... In engagingin thisaction
theencodedpastfora present
[itis] reactivating purpose.1

ThenGregDening:

I thinkthatwe neverknowthetruthby beingtoldit. We have to

experienceit in someway.Thatis theabidinggraceof history. It is
in thetheatre thatwe knowthetruth... truth is alwaystherebutin
some otherformthanwe mightexpect ... sometimesuncertainly,
sometimescontradictorily, sometimesclouded by the forcesthat
driveus to it,sometimesso clearlythatitblindsus to anything
else.2

I wantto considera particularroleofphotographs in inscribing,constitutingand

suggestingpasts.The basic questionwhich has informed all my work recently is:
whatkindof history are photographs? Whatis theaffective tonethrough which
theyprojectthepastintothepresent? How can theirapparently trivialincidental
appearanceof surfacebe meaningful in historicalterms?How does one unlock
the'specialheuristicpotential'of thecondensedevidencein photographs repre-
sentingas theydo intersections? Egmondeand Mason have recently described
theseintersections
as 'crossroadsofmorphological chains,as theintersectionof
numerouscontextsand actions,or at thenodalpointwherebothcontemporary
and modernpreoccupations reflectand enhanceeach other'.3Do photographs
have theirown agencywithinthis?If thereare performative qualitiesin pho-
tographs,wheredo theylie? In thethingitself?In itsmaking?In itscontent?
I can onlychip away at one cornerof thesequestions.I wantto move

* This articlewas originally as a keynotepaperat theinternational

presented conference 'Encounters
withPhotography',
heldattheSouthAfricanMuseumifc£apeTown,July1999.
1. E.Tonkin,Narrating OurPasts (Cambridge,1992),64.
2. G.Dening,Performances (Melbourne,1997),101.
3. F.EgmondandP.Mason,'A HorsecalledBelisarius Journal(1999) 47, 249.
', HistoryWorkshop

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beyondthesurfacelevel evidenceof appearanceso that'if it can be recognised
thathistoriesare culturalprojects,embodying interestsand narrative styles,the
preoccupation withthetranscendent realityof archivesand documentsshould
give way to disputeaboutformsof argument and interpretation'.4This mustbe
seen as experimental, a heuristicdevice to enable a bit of historiographical
exploration, forphotographs are a majorhistoricalformforthelate nineteenth
andtwentieth centuries, yet havehardlystarted
we to graspwhattheyare about,
howto deal withtheirrawness,in bothsensesoftheword- theunprocessed and
perhaps the sometimes painful.
A fewpreliminaries. I am taking'colonial'as implicit here,butmyargu-
menthas widerimplications. It is simplymoreintense,perhaps,in its colonial
moments, butnotexclusivelyso. Some maylabel thephotographs I am consid-
eringas anthropological. Certainlytheyhave been at some timeor still are
anthropological, butI preferto call it history, witha small 'H' (boththething
itselfand whatwe do to it),forto liberateimagesfromsuchcategorisations is
thefirststepto articulating alternative histories through them.
My argument centresaroundsomephotographs fromthePacificin the
late nineteenth century.These fewPacificimagesare ones withwhichI have
been workinglatelyand wereinstrumental in mythinking. Consequently they
are notmerelyillustrative buta centraland formative partof my argument as
theysetmethinking inthefirst place.
I have arguedon a numberof occasions,as have others,theparallels
betweenoralhistory andvisualhistory - photographs. Forthesakeofargument I
am goingto concretise thisconnection bytakinga modelfromoralhistory, espe-
ciallythatarticulated byElizabethTonkin,whomI quotedat thebeginning. This
modelis thatof genre,expectancy and performance.5 It is nota modelthatcan
necessarilybe downloadedto photographs exactly,but the shape is usefulto
thinkwithin relationto photographs.Genre and expectancywill resonate
through thispaper.Expectancyof themediummightbe glossedhereas how we
expectphotographs, withtheirbeguilingrealism,to tell us aboutthepast in
or
givenperformative interpretative spaces and withtheirvariousaudiences.
Genres,visualdialectsof style,form,intentions, uses,rhetorical strategies carry
an expectation andassumption on theappropriateness ofperformance.
However,as mytitlesuggests,it is thelastcharacteristic, performance,
on whichI intendto concentrate, exploring thewaysin whichphotographs could
be thoughtto have performative qualities,bothliterallyand metaphorically. I
wanttopushthisidea to see howfaritwilllead us in an historiographical libera-
tionif,as a heuristic device,we allowphotographs a certainactivity in themak-
of
ing history.hopeI the examples I use will perform what I want to discussto
someextent.At firstglancetheyare ratherordinary photographs, I hopeto
but
nudgethemintoaction.
First,one shouldconsiderbriefly thenatureofthemediumitselfforthis
is inseparable fromthegenres,expectancy andperformance in whichitis entan-
gled. In its stillness,deathlikeas some commentators argued,it contains
have
4. Histories(DurhamNC, 1997),34.
N.Thomas,In Oceania: Visions,Artifacts,
5. Tonkin,Narrating
OurPasts,passim.

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 time,space andthusevent,causinga separation
withinitsframe,fracturing from
theflowof life,fromnarrative,
fromsocial production. In makingdetail,it sub-
ordinatesthewholeto thepart.It is indiscriminate, in its inscription,
fortuitous
randomin itsinclusiveness.
Fromthisconfiguration the
emerge inherently unsta-
in theimage.Centralto thisare
ble signifiers stillnessand frame for theyare
sitesofsemioticenergyandthusmutability ofmeaning.

******

Amongthefivecharacteristics ofthephotograph definedbyJohnSzarkowskiin

hisfamouscatalogueforThePhotographer's Eye at theMuseumofModernArt
in New Yorkin 1966 is the'Frame'.I quote: The centralact of photography is
the act of choosingand eliminating, it forcesa concentration on thepicture's
edge, theline that separates"in" from "out" and on the shapescreatedby it'.6
Whilethisstatement was madein thecontextof a modernist restatement ofpho-
tographic purityand essence, it has wider resonances if we allow ourselves to
moveoutwardsfromthischaracteristic ofthephotograph rather thaninwardto a
concentration on essence,and to considertherelationship of formand themak-
ingof historical meaning.I am notarguingthatthemediumis themessagebut
thattheculturalassumptions andexpectancy bothlimitthinking aboutphotogra-
phyand puttoo greata stresson its indexicality. Rather,like Barthes,I would
liketo reintegrate theontologyintotherhetoric ofthemedium- insertthesense
of magic,of theatreand evenalchemyforhistory too embracessuchsubjectivi-
ties.The photograph awakensa desiretoknowthatwhichitcannotshowforitis
perhapsan ultimate unknowability whichis at thecentreofthephotograph's his-
toricalchallenge.We are facedwiththelimitsof our own understanding in the
faceof the 'endlessness'to whichphotographs refer.It was SiegfriedKracauer
who saw 'endlessness' as one of his fouraffinitiesof photography.7 Even
Szarkowskihimselfpointsin thisdirection in stating
thatthepictureis boundby
the plate but thatthe subjectfromwhichit was extractedwentoffin three
dimensions, buthe does notexplorethisidea.
Frame,in thewayin whichitcontainsandconstrains, heightens andpro-
ducesa fracture whichmakesus intensely awareofwhatlies beyond.Thusthere
is a dialecticbetweenboundary and endlessness;framed, constrained,edgedyet
uncontainable. It is thetensionbetweentheboundary of thephotograph and the
opennessof itscontextswhichis at therootof itshistorical uncontainabilityin
termsof meaning.Derrida'sargument on theactivitiesof frameswould seem
pertinent here.Whileapparently naturalised,framesare essentiallyconstructed
and fragile.Framingand constraint imposeartificially on a discourseconstantly
threatened withoverflowing.8 This is so even of themostovertlyoppressiveof
photographic practices, suchas anthropométrie photography, wherethehumanis-
ing marks of culture - the of
arrangement hair, thecultural marking of thebody

6. ThePhotographer's
J-Szarkowski, Eye (New York,1966),9.
7. The othersbeing 'an outspokenaffinitywithunstagedreality,fortuitousness
and indeterminacy.'
SiegfriedKracauer
'Photography'reprintedin A.Trachtenburg,
Classic EssaysinPhotography (New Haven,1980),263-265.
8. 'Parergon'in TheTruthAboutPainting,transi.G.Bennington
JXterrida, & I .McLeod,(Chicago,1987),70.

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suchas cicatrices, piercetheobjectifying imagewiththepossibility of subject
experience.9 Indeeditis perhapsthetensionsbetweentheintenseobjectified pre-
sentation of subjectand an awarenessof 'beyond'thatis partof thepowerof
suchphotographs.
Mostimportant formyargument hereis thetheatricality of framing: an
intensifying of the spatialand narrative arrangements whichoccurwithinthe
frame.But firstit is necessaryto exploretheidea of perf ormati vityand theatri-
cality in relation to photographs. One can argue that theatricalityis linkedto
photography, and in two senses. the of
First, intensity presentational form- the
fragment of experience,reality, happening(whateveryou wantto call it) con-
tainedthrough framing - and second, theheightening ofsignworldswhichresult
fromthisintensity.
The idea of performance and its moreovertand formalmanifestation,
is notmeantin thesenseoftheembeddedformalqualitiesofdrama
theatricality,
as a genre,so muchas a representation, heightening, containment andprojection
- a presentation whichconstitutes a performative or persuasiveact directed
towarda consciousbeholder.10 The natureofthephotographic mediumitselfcar-
riesan intensity whichis constituted by thenexusof thehistorical momentand
theconcentration of thephotograph as an inscription. This concentration, focus
or containment has a heightening effecton thesubjectmatter. It forcesintovisi-
bility,focusingattention, givingseparateprominence to theunnoticed and more
important, creatingenergy at the edge. Further, photographs might be said to
the
'perform' mutability of theirsignifying structures as they projectedinto
are
different do
spaces. For instance,how photographs become 'anthropological'?
Photographs have a performativity, an affectivetone,a relationship withthe
viewer,a phenomenology notofcontent as such,butas activesocialobjectspro-
jecting and movinginto othertimesand spaces. This is morethanpassive
imagesbeingread in different contexts,althoughthatis obviouslypartof the
equation.Ratheras a heuristic device,we can see imagesas activethrough their
as the is
performativity, past projectedactively into the presentby the nature of
thephotograph itselfand theact of lookingat a photograph. One is reminded
hereof Mitchell'squestion'whatdo pictures[herephotographs] reallywant?'
Thisis nota collapseintoa personification and fetishism of thephotograph, but
ratherto clear a space whichallows foran excess or an extensionbeyondthe
semioticto an appealto thephotograph, whosepowersand possibilities emerge
in the intersubjective encounter.11 Perhapsit is moreintenseat momentsof
encounter acrosssystemsof powerand value,forsucha heuristic devicehigh-
lightspoints of fracture.
Peacockhas defined performance as a condensed, distilledandconcentrated
- Like
life an occasionwhenenergiesare intenselyfocused.12 performance or
theatre,photographs focusseeingandattention in a certainway.Performances are

9. See E.Edwards,Raw Histories:Photographs,

Anthropology and Museums(Oxford,2001), 144-47.
10. andAbsorption:
MFried,Theatricality Paintingand BeholderintheAgeofDiderot(Berkeley,1980).
11. 'Whatdo Pictures
W.J.T.Mitchell, ReallyWant?', October(1996), 79.
12. JPeacock,'An Ethnography oftheSacredandProfanein Performance' andW.Appel,eds.,ByMeans of
in R.Schechner
Performance(Cambridge, 1990),208.

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also set apart.Likewisephotographs are apart,beingof othertimesand other
places.Performances, likephotographs, embodymeaningthrough signifying prop-
erties,and are deliberate, consciousefforts to represent, to say something about
something. The signitselfis, in Schechner's analysis,13 performative in thatitcon-
stitutesone or more bits of meaning which are related and projectedintolarger
framesof performance, 'scenes' sequencesof signswhichembodynarrative.
Schechner's modelallowsus to linkthemutability ofthephotograph's signswith
theirhistoricalcontexts, in thatlarger frames of performance - the cultural stage
on whichthedramaofthephotograph is playedout- arecomprised ofthesmaller,
ontowhichitinturnsdeports meanings ina mutually sustaining relationship.
Theatrealso confronts theviewer- opens a space forreflection, argu-
mentand thepossibility of understanding. For Dening,'Theatricality is deep in
everyaction ... the theatricality always present,is intensewhenthe moment
beingexperienced is fullof ambivalences'.14 It is through theheightening nature
ofthemedium- thattheatricality withinthephotograph and itsinscription - that
points of fracturebecome apparent. The incidental detail can a
give compelling
clarity,through whichalternative historiesmightbe articulated and theperfor-
manceextendthepossibilitiesof authorship of historythrough theinteraction
withpreciselythosepointsoffracture. Significantly the Soviet filmmaker, Sergei
Eisenstein,perceivedsimilarboundariesbetweenphotographyand filmas
betweentheatreand film.15 Closingthetrianglesurelyalignsphotography with
theatre.To referbackto myquoteat thebeginning - 'it is in thetheatre thatwe
knowthetruth'.Consequentlyone can arguethatthereis a massingof ideas
whichpointin thedirection ofa certainperformative qualityinphotographs.
I am goingto look at threedifferent waysin whichtheidea ofperforma-
tivitymightbe understood inrelationto history andphotography, firstthetheatre
of theframe,second,theperformance of makingand finallytheatreor perfor-
mancewithintheframe.These are notmutuallyexclusivebutratherintegrally
interconnected intheperformance ofhistory.
I wantto considerfirsttwophotographs takenon thesame occasion,in
in
1884, probably March,at Malekula, Vanuatu(or New Hebridesas it was
then).Thesephotographs, as imagesto thinkwith,becomemorethanthesumof
theirparts.
Beaches have been describedby Dening as 'beginningsand endings,
frontiers and boundaries'thatdelineatedthe transformative space of cultural
contact16- notunlikephotographs in someways.Thesebeachscenes,a recurring
photographic tropein thePacific,becomeintensified through theactionof the
frame.Theirveryordinariness is transformed intoa quiet theatricality which
definesboththephotographic momentandthecolonialencounter on theedgeof
theisland.It is pushedintovisibility through theboundariesof thephotograph.
Buttheparticulars withintheframeoverflowthepictoriallimitontothegeneral
culturalstageon whichthelittledramais playedout.

13. R .Schechner ' ' in Schechner

ofPerformance andAppel, eds., ByMeansofPerformance
, Magnitudes , 44.
14 . Dening , ,
Performances 109 .
15. QuotedinKracauer,Photography, 256.
16. G.Dening,Islandsand Beaches:Discourseon a SilentLand: Marquesas1774-1880(Honolulu,1980),3 1-32.

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 Figure1. On thebeachat Malekula,Vanuatu.1884? Photographer
Capt. WA.D. Acland.
(CourtesyofPittRiversMuseum,University 1998. 159.29.1)
ofOxford,

The first photograph showsa groupofMalekulapeopleon theirbeachwitha lieu-

tenant froma RoyalNavysloop,H MS. Miranda,whichwasdoinga tourofdutyon
'The IslandRun' as itwas known(Figure1). Thiswas usuallythreetofourmonths
at sea outofSydney, encompassing a hugechunkofoceandelineated bytherunup
through Norfolk Island,New Caledonia,Fiji, New Hebrides and east to Samoa.The
was
photographer Miranda'scommander a
WilliamAcland, well-connected young
mandoingthethree-year postingontheRoyalNavy'sSydneyStation.
But whatwas happeningthatday at Malekula?Whatlittlehistory is it?
Thereis a self-conscious acting out offrames or boundaries on the beach,rowing
theoutrigger canoe- sailorsandboats,BritishandMelanesian.
Stagedpicturessuch as thisdisclosespecificintentions, as opposedto
promising to reveal a in
priorimeaningslodged configurations of the world.
Thereis also a theatricality in Michael Fried's sense,thatthe subjectsproject
themselvesor thedramaforwardto something external- thecameraand the
viewer.Hencewe can attribute somesignificance to theself-conscious, intention-
al content ofthephotograph. We arelookinghereat encounters during age of
the
gunboatdiplomacy. The scene on the beach can be read as a tense working outof
a potentiallyvolatilesituation.Humourandcamaraderie appeartodefusethesitu-
ation.Boundariesand beaches,as Dening comments,17 are made of sensible
things, raucous laughter and here, a canoe.Intimacy suggestedby thecontain-
is
mentofboththecanoeandthebordersofthephotograph frame, concentrating the
viewer'sattention, heightening contentand moving the latter from the purely
informational totherealmofalternative representations andcontemplations.

17. Ibid,20.

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 Capt. WAD. Acland.(Courtesy
Figure2. On thebeachat Malekula.1884? Photographer
ofPittRiversMuseum,University 1998. 159.29.3)
ofOxford,

I wouldarguethattherearelayeredspatialities in thisphotograph, intensifiedby

the framingof the photograph.A naval lieutenantis 'inserted' into the
Melanesianphysicalspace of theoutrigger canoe. At one level thetheatreof
actionon thebeach would appearto fracture Melanesianspace and makethe
colonialpowerrelationsvisible,yetabsenceor silencecan be a resonantactive
presence,a familiardevice in boththeatreand photography. Melanesianspace
may appear suppressedin the photographs,but it is present,embodied in
Melanesiansocial beingon theirbeach. Land is important in Melanesiansoci-
eties,beinglinkedto statusthrough theproduction offood,butsea is equallyso.
One is a continuation of theother.Thusgeographical'facts'linkpeopleto their
history and theorganization of local knowledgeand to Melanesianperceptions
and definitions of space.18Malekulans,throughpresenceof theirown cultural
understandings of thatspace,markit withinthephotograph, if we, theviewers,
only allow them that space.While thisis intensifiedby theframeit cannothere
necessarilybe reducedsolelyto theactionin theframealone,butto thequiet
assertionsof intersecting historieswhichbecome more visible throughthe
heightening action ofthe frame.
Anotherbeach scene, takenat the same time is similarlycarefully
framedand composed(Figure2). The comingtogether of recognition and fram-
ing,as Szarkowskisuggested, is thephotographer's act,
primary dictating, in our
contexts, what is as
performed history and what is not.Two naval ratingsform
theleftand rightframescondensing thegroup.The one on therightstandingin
thebow of the ship's boat whichprojectsintotheframe.At thewater'sedge

18. L .Lindstrom
, Knowledgeand Powerina SouthPacificSociety(Washington
, 1990), 5 1 and7 1.

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anotherseamanstands,armslinked(steadyingperhapsin therelativelylong
exposureoftwoorthreeseconds)withthoseoftwoMelanesians.
Howeverthecontrolling framebothphysicalandmetaphorical has started
to springa leak,as containers do. The leak is a semioticexcessor energy, which
manifests itselfas therawness,theambiguity or ultimate uncontainability of the
photographas history.Kracauer's 'endlessness',triggeredby the fortuitous,
reachesbeyondtheframe.Frame,in thisregister, marksa provisional limitonly:
itscontent refersto othercontents outsidethatframe.Withinthecontainment of
theimage,smallheightening details, such as the linked a
arms, pair of boots
(navalboots?)slungaroundsomeone'sneck,assumea metaphorical andsymbol-
ic density. The carefulpresentation to thecamerahas thequiettheatricality with
all theself-consciousness thatsucha tableauentails,as bothpartiesprojecttheir
contesting spacesfortheresulting image.Howeverthemediumdisguisestheges-
ture,utterance and resonanceon whichfragilerelations,such as thoseon the
beachatMalekula,depended.Theirabsenceis madepalpablypresent through the
ifwe
photographs imagine the theatrical possibilities ofthe temporally suspended
gesture, thestayedglance,themotionless fingeron a forearm.
These two imagesassumewhatDaniels has describedas 'highspecific
gravity'fortheyappearto 'condensea rangeofsocialforcesandrelations'
, ,19The
heightening effect of stillnesswithin the frame as the historicalmoment is per-
formedforus, opensup possibilitiesnotforseeingwhatthepictureis 'of in
forensic termsbutrather, and moresignificantly, forthisis whereI believepho-
tographs are an unique form of history, they can suggesttheexperienceof the
past. Kracauer,writingof thedistinctions betweenpaintingand photography,
encapsulates theirhistoriographical need:'In orderforhistory topresent itself,the
meresurfacecoherenceof the photographmustbe destroyed'.20 While pho-
tographsparticularise, at the same timetheyresonatewiththatbeyondthem-
selves,theyexplainsomething ofthatworldwhichmadethempossibleinthefirst
place. These photographs show Melanesianspaces at thepointof negotiation,
betweenspaceandtypesofpower,betweenwhatis close to individuals andthose
remoteandexterior forces, such as the RoyalNavy and colonialpolicy,in which
local lifeis enmeshed.The photographs on thebeacharepartof an endlesscon-
tinuumof microscopic incidents, actionsand interactions whichconstitute a his-
toricalreality.21 The fragmenting natureof photography the
brings experiential
moment to notice,visibility,an indiscriminate privileging ofmoment. Conversely
it is theStudium, to use Barthes'model,thatby givingcontextallowspunctum,
thedetailthatassumessignificance, to be recognised- thesteadying fingerfor
instance.Withoutframe,physicaland metaphorical thereis nothingto pierce.
Thisis whatI meanbythetheatrical heightening ofphotography - allowinglines
offracture to appearandthespaceforalternative readingsorhistories toemerge.

19. S.Daniels,Fields of Vision:LandscapeImageryand NationalIdentityin Englandand the UnitedStates(Cambridge,

1993),244-245.
20. SiegfriedKracauer,'Photography' in The Mass Ornament:WeimarEssays, transi.& ed., T.Levin (CambridgeMA,
1995),52.
21. R.Barthes,'The Rhetoricof theImage' in Image Music Texttransi.S. Heath(London, 1977); D.Barnouw,Critical
Realism:History,Photography Kracauer(Baltimore,
and theWorksofSiegfried 1994),251.

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 Figure3. Mauga Manumaandsupporters
on HMS Miranda,November
1883.Photographer
Capt.WAD. Acland(Courtesy
ofPittRiversMuseum,University PRM.B36.10a)
ofOxford,

Thisis evenmoremarkedin twophotographs takenbythesamephotographer a

fewmonthsearlierin November1883 (Figures3-4) ,22The surfaceappearance
is thatofthearchetypal colonialimage- islanderson a gunboat,or labourboat,
cruiseship surrounded by sailorsor touristsor the merelycurious.But again
engaging with theheightening intensity of space and momentthrough thefrag-
mentingcharacterof photography opens the space foralternativehistories.
Againitcan be readas a performance. The veryexistenceofthesephotographs,
likethelasttwowe lookedat,breaksthrough theenclosedspace of textualhis-
toriesaroundthis event- the meetingof two rival claimantsto a Samoan
chieflytitle,Mauga of Tutuila, who have been broughton board H M.S.
Mirandaso thatthecolonialpowerscan imposea peace on thelatter 's terms.
The detailsarebeyondthescope of thisarticleforwhatconcernsme hereis the
way in whichthe photograph,throughthe heighteningcontainmentof the
frame,confronts thegeneralising narrative of historyand performs an alterna-
tive set of statementsof power. It returnsthe specificityto the historical
momentandforcesitto signify.
Herewe see evenmoreclearlythewayin whichthephotograph seizes a
momentfromthe flow and process of existence and gives an intensityof
moment.The act of photographing endowedthiseventwitha permanence and
which
theatricality echoesat an abstractlevel theperformance of theevent itself.
Further, the intensified
fragment of eventheld in the photograph mirrorsthe
intensifiedfragment ofculturalpowerembodiedin theship,theBritishgunboat.
Acland,theship'scommander, had intended thismeetingoftheMaugasprecise-

22. Edwards, Raw Histories

, 107-29.

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 Figure4. MaugaLei andsupportersonHMS Miranda,November 1883.Photographer
Capt.
WAD. Acland(Courtesy ofPittRiversMuseum,University
ofOxford,PRM.B36.10b)

ly as a performanceof political authority, the ceremonialitselfbeing an integral

part of thatauthorityarticulatedin the spectacle or visibilityof the moment.The
photographs thus become the veryessence of thatmoment.
However, a point of fractureis in place. Despite the appearance of con-
tainmentwithinthe space of a Britishgunboat,thereis a Samoan spatial articula-
tionclearlyat work,which,ratherthanbeing fractured by expressionsof colonial
power, actually asserts its own culturalcohesiveness and fractures(or perhaps
subverts)the totalityof authoritativespace. One could argue thatthe process of
emergingglobal power is confronted by conscious local configurations of space.
Pre-existingsocio-political hierarchy in Samoa provides precise spatial
configurationspremisedon the socialised body,notablydemonstratedin the vil-
lage meeting.The claimantshere, as high chief (the Maugas), are seated in the
centre,over theirrightshouldersare theirorators,'talkingchiefs' withlimed hair
and carryingthe ceremonial fly-whisk,who spoke for the chiefs and served as
chief advisors. Given thatthese crucial protagonistsare in an ethnographically
confirmedspatial arrangementand the otherseniormen appear in broadlysemi-
circulararrayaround the Mauga, it is not an unreasonable assumptionthatthe
rest of the entourageexpress hierarchicaland kinshiprelationsspatially,repro-
ducing Samoan space and the authoritysuch an arrangementcarries, on the
Quarter Deck of HMS Miranda. The spatial arrangementevident in the pho-
tographsspeaks to a more complex intersectionof authoritiesthan the colonial
writtenrecordmightsuggest.We cannotknow it all, but the intensityof visual-
ization which the photograph constitutespresented a line of fracturewhich
allows an alternativeview of whathappened at 10.30 on 17thNovember 1883 on
theQuarterDeck of HMS Miranda.

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 Figure5-6. Demonstrating
pottery
making,PortMoresby.Photography
A.C. Haddon/A.
Wilkin1898. (CourtesyofCambridgeUniversity
MuseumofArchaeologyand
AnthropologyPap. CD. 101-102)
I wantnowtolookbriefly attheperf vityoftheactofphotographing.
ormati In many
waysthisis a less complexmanifestation oftheidea ofperformativity thanthoseI
havejustconsidered. Nonetheless,itis one crucialto therelationship betweenpho-
tography andthemakingofhistory. We can see thisoperating through a verydiffer-
entand unremarkable set of photographs takennearPortMoresby,BritishNew
Guineain 1898.Theydemonstrate againthewayinwhichcontent canbe understood
toextendbeyonditssubjectmatter. In thesephotographs we canactually see theper-
formance ofmaking - the
photographs photographs show us theact ofobservation.
Herephotography actsouttheprocessof observation and thecollection
of visualdatain an anthropology embeddedin colonialrelations(Figures5-6).
The actingis dependent too on frame.At one levelthegenreof thephotographs
is thatof unmediated observation, immediacyand absorption whichdeniesthe
presenceof theviewer,an increasingly dominant truth value in anthropology at
theend of the 19thcentury. Howeverthe way the cameramoves aroundthe
groupof womenworkingat the'bench'introduces an activespatialrelationship
betweenobserverand observed.One feelstheact of observation as thecamera,
actingas theviewer'seye, moves aroundthegroup'to see better','to reveal
more',to intensify therecord.Spatialand kineticqualitiesare clearlyevident-
theobserveris embodied,outsidethephotographic frameas AntonyWilkin,the
expedition photographer or Alfred Cort the
Haddon, expeditionleader(theydid
thephotography betweenthem)movearoundthegroup.23 Thereis a strongper-

23. For an extendedconsideration

of theBritishNew Guineaphotography
of Haddonand theTorresStraitExpedition,see
E.Edwards,'SurveyingCulture'in M.O'Hanlon & R.Welsch,eds., HuntingtheGatherers:Collectingand Agencyin
Melanesia(Oxford,2000), 103-26.

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 Figure6.

formative qualityon two axes. Firstwithinthegroup,whichis absorbedin the

narrative actionofmakingpottery, andstressesthedistancefromtheviewer.The
secondis interactive, theperformance ofobservation stressesthepresenceofthe
viewer, and the making of scientificinformation. These two are workedout
simultaneously withinthesameperformative space.Frameis againa provisional
limit.It is fracturedby whatis beyondand relationships beyond- thecontainer
has againsprungleaks.The direction of responsesof thewomensuggeststhere
was another focusof attentionor conversation, another cameraperhaps,or inter-
preteror perhapsa local colonialofficer, David Ballantine, whoorchestrated the
of
performance making pots. the There is a sense of interaction between the
wholegroup,notmerelybetweenperformers and camerabutby constant refer-
enceto whatis beyondthe frame overmultiplespatial axes.
The performance ofphotographing is also clearin a seriesofthreeimages
oftattooprocesses.Againthereareshifting cameraanglesand,moresignificantly
intrusions, into frame.Shadows, indexical
traces oftheactofobservation, literally
the
theshadowof gaze, inscribeobservation, theyarebothfigurative andparadoxi-
cal,a symbolofpresenceandabsence.Theypointtotheunseenviewer'sdominant
space beyondtheframestatingtheauthority of authorship. Here theunintended
the
details, fortuitous, reveal the natureof makinghistory. Further theseparticular
photographic encounterswere framed within colonial relationswhere culturewas
performed forthecameraandthecameraperformed culture.
I wantto look finallyat a photograph of re-enactment, a performance
outside'real time' and 'real life' because a consideration of it,in conjunction
withthenatureof photography, suggestshow content, formand thenatureof
inscription cometogether in a performance that,veryliterally, makeshistory. It
also fulfilssomemaincharacteristics -
of performancepreparation and presen-

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tationwhichare translated through photography, as an unmediated experience.
This thenis launchedon thenormalisedtemporaltrajectory of photography as
the 'there-then' becomes'here-now'.Further in relationto my argument here,
thisphotograph assumesan allegoricalnature,anotherperformance wherethe
image becomes revelatory and transcendent. Like the Malekula photographs it
becomesparadigmatic of thelinkbetweentheatreand frame,photography and
It is
history. conceptually in This
verycomplex configuration. particular photo-
graphis linkedto salvageethnography, whichlike thephotograph, constitutes
anothertemporally definedimperative concernedwiththethreatof disappear-
ance.The sceneis MabuiagIsland,TorresStraiton 21stSeptember 1898.24
The subjectis Kwoiam,thetotemichero,whosemythiccultwas central
to all westernTorresStraitinitiation and deathceremonies(Figure7). It is in a
seriesofimages,madeto 'record'thiscentralmyth.Herewe havethevisualisa-
tionoftheveryrootofmyth, notonlyin thephotographing of sacredspaces,the
sites of mythicalhappenings,but in thiscase throughthe re-enactment of a
mythical moment which defined the topographicalspace and social space in
-
TorresStrait thedeathof Kwoiam.The landscapewas definedmytho-topo-
graphically, markedthrough contactwithKwoiam'sbodyand thoseof his vic-
tims- his footprint is in therock,bouldersare theheads of his victims.The
landscapeis mappedthrough his social interaction:a streamthatneverdriesis
theplace wherehe thrust his spearintotherock,thegrassyplanesstuddedwith
pandanusare wherehe had his gardens.His exploitsthemselves involvedmuch
slaughter and associated head-hunting but,eventually Kwoiam was ambushedby
hisenemies.He retreated to thesummit of a hillwhere,crouchedon theground,
he died.
Haddonwriteswithinteresting rhetoricalslippage:

The busheson theside of Kwoiam'shillhave mostof theirleaves

blotchedwithred,and nota feware entirelyof a brightredcolour.
This is due to theblood thatspurtedfromKwoiam'sneckwhenit
was cutat hisdeath;to thisdaytheshrubswitnessthisoutrageon a
deadhero.25

ButHaddonalso writesimmediately
beforethispassage:

I wantedone ofthenativeswhohad accompaniedus to puthimself

intheattitude
ofthedyingKwoiam,so thatI mighthavea recordof
thepositionhe assumed,photographed
on theactualspot...26

The photograph hereconfronts

thePlatonicidealismwhichmistrusts re-presen-
tationsof realityand thusperformance.Through the theatre
of re-enactment

24. Fora detailedconsideration

ofthephotography oftheTorresStraitExpeditionsee E.Edwards,'Performing
Science:Still
Photography and theTorresStraitExpedition'in A.Herle& S.Rouse eds., Cambridgeand theTorresStrait:Centenary
Essayson the1898 AnthropologicalExpedition (Cambridge,1998); andofthisphotograph see Edwards,Raw Histories,
157-80
25. A.CHaddon,Headhunters, Black,Whiteand Brown(London,1901), 147.
26. Ibid.

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 A.C. Haddon/A.Wilkin.
thedeathofKwoiam,1898.Photographer
Figure7. Re-enacting
(Courtesy Museum
ofCambridgeUniversity and
ofArchaeology Anthropology TStr.66)

withintheframe,thephysicalbody is reinserted intomythicalspace through

itselfexpressedthrough
realisticre-presentation, therealistagendasofphotogra-
phy.Photography makestheabsentpresent, theappearanceof thatwhichdoes
not exist,physicallypresent.The temporalambiguitiesof eventwhicharise
through thenotionof there-enactment are also heightened by the ambiguous
natureofphotography itself.A fragment oftimestilled,yetitis atemporal, sepa-
ratedfromtime.The ambiguitieslead here to a collapse of the distinction
betweenmythic paralleltime,historicaltimeandcontemporary timethrough the
natureof thephotograph. Further,re-enactment notonlyin
is itselftheatrical
termsof replication:it is a heighteningof realitythrough theboundedintensity
of thephotographic moment, bothas actionand image. The culturalexpectation
ofphotographic veracity andthetensionsbetweentemporal and spatialambigui-
tiesand mimeticcertainties of photographynaturalise thetheatricalqualitiesof
re-enactment in thecreationof realityeffects.Endlessnessof a different order-

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ofmythical being- is signified through thecontent oftheframeandtheconcen-
trationofenergywithinit.
The deathof Kwoiam pushesbeyondsalvage ethnography whichcol-
lectsthestillextant.It movesintothesubjunctive mood'as if - 'as ifitwereso'
whichDeninghas identified withbothre-enactment and thetheatrical modeof
history.27In re-enactment theno-longer extantorinvisiblebecomesreconstructed
andreinstated, evenperhapswithan elementofresurrection, forthedisjunctures
of photography and its realityeffectgive theappearanceof theextant.Mytho-
poetichistorybecomesreal, visible,tangible.To me thisis an extraordinary
image.If we thinkthrough thecontent in termsoftheontologicalrhetorics ofthe
it the
medium, encapsulates relationships between photography, performance and
history and theclaim that 'it is in the theatrethat we know the truth' , for herewe
arepersuadedoftheactuality andrealityofKwoiam.
To conclude,ithas beenarguedthattheatre, likephotography, is merely
thereproductive slave of theideologicalapparatusof reproduction whichcan
onlyfreeitselfbythenotionoftrueperformance. By usingideasofperformativ-
ity,theheightening effect, in relationto photographs, one can,I wouldargue,do
just this, bringing to the surface a grounded historical meaningwhichmoves
the
beyond merely mimetic. I hope I have shown through thishistoriographical
exploration certainrelationships betweenphotography and theperformance of
history in bringing thepointsof intersection and fracture to thefore.In thisreg-
isterthetrivial,theordinary andunconsidered reveals,through thedensityof its
multiple the
layers, possibilities of the historiescondensed within it.
MichaelFriedhas written of paintingthattableauxvivantsscenesmay
be understood to showthattherecan be no suchthingas an anti-theatrical work
of art- thatanycomposition, by beingplaced in certain contexts or framed in
certainways,can be made to servetheatrical ends.28 Withinmy argument for
photography as a performance ofhistory one couldmakesimilarclaims.One can
also claimthatsuchan argument goes leastsomeway towardsgivingphoto-
at
graphs an idea of in
visuality history adequatetotheirontology.29
While photographs may have different densitiesin the way in which
theybringtogether a field-force of social relationsand presenttheircontents,
theynonetheless carrywiththemthecharacteristics ofphotography as a medium
of inscription. As suchtheyare all touched,at theiredges,to a greateror lesser
extent:familyphotographs, officialphotographs, portraits. Theircontainments
have thepotentialforperforming historiesin ways in whichperhapswe least
expect,whentheyareusednotmerelyas evidentialtoolsbutas toolswithwhich
to thinkthrough thenatureofhistorical experience. The positionedsubjectivities
in lookingat photographs leaves a space to articulateotherhistoriesoutside
dominant historical methods.In usingperformance as a toolto thinkwithI hope
I havesuggesteda crucialcharacteristic ofthephotograph's agencyin all this,as
we trytocometo gripswiththerelationship betweenphotography andhistory.

27. Dening, Performances , 48 andpassim.

28. Fried, Theatricality
and Absorption ,173.
29. Mitchell,'Whatdo PicturesReallyWant?', 82.

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