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Picturing Gentlemen

Japanese Portrait Photography in Colonial Taiwan

Bibliographic Data

ID3636449
AuthorsJoseph R Allen (0000-0003-1119-1992, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume73
Issue4
Pages1009-1042
Publication date2014-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9118 • E-ISSN: 1752-0401
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/s0021911814000990
OpenAlexW2106728514
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited7

This essay investigates the conditions of portrait photography in Taiwan during Japanese colonization. After a brief introduction to the theoretical issues concerning the indexical nature of the photograph, I consider the Japanese colonial photographic industry and its products (portraits) in three contexts: the state of photographic technology in the world at that time, the ideological machinery of colonization in Taiwan, and the wider phenomenon of colonial mimicry. In this consideration, I offer a diachronic analysis of photo albums and commercial directories that contain formal portraits of politically and economically influential (almost exclusively) men. Bringing these considerations together suggests an aspect of the colonial ideological machinery that has been underrepresented in other studies: the colonial portrait as a mask in several forms

Archaeology · Art · Art history · Colonialism · Ideology · Indexicality · Linguistics · Photography · Political science · Politics · Portrait · Sociology · State (computer science) · Visual arts · Computer Science · History · History, Culture, and Diplomacy · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Philosophy · Photography and Visual Culture

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Unique citing works1
Citations per year1
Citation span2025 - 2025 (1)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 1

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