Silva Gyuloglyan Essay 2
“Positivism is a popular philosophical approach that proposed that the only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge and that all things are ultimately measurable.”[4] Positivists believed that both the world and humans can be understood with science. From there, they wanted to come up with a scientific procedure that will aid in the understanding of human behavior and human condition. Positivists in the 19th century believed that photography “fulfilled the Enlightenment dream of a universal language”.[5] Positivism is much less embraced today, but it made the modern world.[6] There is a sort of uncertainty that comes along with positivism. Although the used of scientific methods and procedures can help people understand society, humans should not be studied under scientific ways only. Humans are much more complex and need to be studied in ways other than science.
In the mid 19th century, there were two popular pseudosciences, physiognomy and phrenology. Physiognomy is the study of facial characteristics based on the belief that these features can determine character and personality traits.[7]It looks at the profile of the head and the significance of each facial element. The individual’s character is then judged through these readings. Phrenology first made its appearance in the nineteenth century. Phrenology is the study of the shape and physical features of the skull and head that is based on the belief that these features can determine character and personality traits.[8] The skull was mapped out into what was called Buchanan’s Organology. The phrenologists would feel the patient’s skull and look for the bumps. The bumps then corresponded to the mapped image. It wanted to distinguish correspondences between the topography of the skull to mental illnesses within the brain. [9] Both physiognomy and phrenology produced racist ideas and to this day it is used. These ideas believed that whatever is inside a human can be sort of projected through their facial features and external looks.[10]
In 1879, Alphonse Bertillon was the inventor of the “first effective modern system of criminal identification”.[11]Bertillon began a series of “anthropometric photos.” The Bertillon system records anthropometric measurements and personal characteristics, such as eye color, scars and other deformities. The measurements of height, reach height, length of body parts, are also recorded on cards and placed into a filing system.[12] He had combined the photographs, anthropometric description, and high standardized and abbreviated written notes on a card. He then organized the cards within a filing system. Bertillon’s aim with his work was practical and operational. His system of criminal identification was integral to the efforts to isolate criminals.[13]
Francis Galton was an English statistician and the founder of eugenics. He was interested in hereditary and racial “betterment” which led him on the search for the biologically determined “criminal type.” [14] Galton began a series called “composite portraiture. ” Composite portraits were produced by layering the individual portraits of a number of people onto a photographic plate, through a process of partial exposure of each image.[15] Galton’s aim with his work was theoretical. He wanted to “intervene in human reproduction by means of public policy, encouraging the propagation of the fit and discouraging the propagation of the unfit”.[16] He had the idea of the so called “ideal American”. In 1883, Galton created the term eugenics. Eugenics is used to “improve humanity by encouraging the ablest and healthiest people to have more children”. [17] It is a field of study that looks at human reproduction and manipulates it so that humans can essentially produce superior results. The idea and principles of eugenics was also used to argue the mass extinction of Jews.[18] Sekula explains that, “The projects of Alphonse Bertillon and Francis Galton constitute two methodological poles of the positivist attempts to define and regulate social deviance”. Both Bertillon and Galton were looking for physical indications of the criminal type. But Bertillon was more interested in looking at specifics to identify individual people. On the other hand, Galton wanted to come up with a composite image that gives off the important physical features of criminals.
Using photography to surveil, control, diagnose and treat people comes with a variety of problems. Photography was used to pinpoint out “the Other” and show why they are different. Photographs of Native Americans were common at this time. In a photograph titled “Cut Nose, 1862” by J.E. Whitney Studio was an image of a Native American man. The photo does not match the text that is provided with it. The text reads Who is the Massacre of 1862, in Minnesota, murdered 15 women and children and 5 men.[19] This has a quality of racial undertones and dehumanization of the indigenous people. This is also shown in an image titled “Front and Profile Views of a Malayan Male, 1868.” Furthermore, photography was used for the diagnosis and the treatment of many mental illnesses.
Patients in the mental asylums were used as a scientific experiment. The patients at these institutions were also mainly women who were believed to have “hysteria. ” Hysteria is defined as a nervous affection in which the emotional and reflex excitability is exaggerated and the will power is diminished, thus causing the patient to lose control over emotions.[20] The photographs that were taken of these patients were sometimes posed to show the mental illness. In a photograph titled “Seated Women with Bird, 1855” by Hugh Welch Diamond, shows a woman holding a dead bird in her hands. This gives us the idea that it died in her hands and she is not giving it up and thus showing mental illness. Because most of these images were posed, it is hard to say that mental illness is involved and that causes a problem. Photography was also used to take images of slaves and illustrate the psychological and physical torture that was caused to the enslaved people. In some ways, this can be helpful in today’s time because it gives us a deeper understanding into medical practices, slavery and racism. Bertillon’s and Galton’s work were innovative and helped with the criminal justice system today in creating mugshots and fingerprint techniques. However, the study of eugenics at that time caused a lot of hatred towards many people who were not considered the “superior type of human. ”[21] There were many problems that were present when photography was being used to surveil, control, diagnose and treat individuals. But there was some good that came out of it. For example, today we can use these images to study the life of indigenous people and see the progression of medical practices.
Overall, “The Body and the Archive” by Allan Sekula was helpful in understanding photography and the ways that it was influential and disadvantageous. Photography was a huge part in the idea of “The Other. ” In the mid 18th to the mid 19th century, many images were taken of people who were believed to be “The Other”. This gives us a deeper understanding on the racism and dehumanization that occurred during that time. Alphonse Bertillon and Francis Galton were an influential part to the idea of the “criminal type. ” With their ideas, fingerprinting and mugshots were developed and are still used to this day. Although many problems come up with the use of photography for these ideas, it is useful in our studies today.
[1] Allan Sekula. 1986. “The Body and the Archive.” October 39 : 7. Doi:10.2307/778312
[2] Allan Sekula. 1986. “The Body and the Archive.” October 39 : 7. Doi:10.2307/778312
[3] Johnson, Denise. The Slide Projector, n.d. http://www.theslideprojector.com./, Lecture 10
[4] Johnson, Denise. The Slide Projector, n.d. http://www.theslideprojector.com./, Lecture 10
[5] Allan Sekula. 1986. “The Body and the Archive.” October 39 : 17. Doi:10.2307/778312
[6] Allan Sekula. 1986. “The Body and the Archive.” October 39 : 17. Doi:10.2307/778312
[7] Johnson, Denise. The Slide Projector, n.d. http://www.theslideprojector.com./, Lecture 10
[8] Johnson, Denise. The Slide Projector, n.d. http://www.theslideprojector.com./, Lecture 10
[9] Allan Sekula. 1986. “The Body and the Archive.” October 39 : 11. Doi:10.2307/778312
[10] Johnson, Denise. The Slide Projector, n.d. http://www.theslideprojector.com./, Lecture 10
[11] Allan Sekula. 1986. “The Body and the Archive.” October 39 : 18. Doi:10.2307/778312
[12] “Bertillon System.” 2018. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, January 1.
[13] Allan Sekula. 1986. “The Body and the Archive.” October 39 : 19. Doi:10.2307/778312
[14] Allan Sekula. 1986. “The Body and the Archive.” October 39 : 19. Doi:10.2307/778312
[15] Galton, Francis. "Composite Portraits, Made by Combining Those of Many Different Persons Into a Single Resultant Figure." The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 8 (1879): 132-44. doi:10.2307/2841021.
[16] Allan Sekula. 1986. “The Body and the Archive.” October 39 : 19. Doi:10.2307/77831
[17] Social Origins of Eugenics. Accessed March 27, 2021. http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/essay2text.html.
[18] Johnson, Denise. The Slide Projector, n.d. http://www.theslideprojector.com./, Lecture 12
[19] Johnson, Denise. The Slide Projector, n.d. http://www.theslideprojector.com./, Lecture 10
[20] Johnson, Denise. The Slide Projector, n.d. http://www.theslideprojector.com./, Lecture 10
[21] Johnson, Denise. The Slide Projector, n.d. http://www.theslideprojector.com./, Lecture 12
