Humanities 10
QIII 2016
American Complex: Implicating Image & Text
DUE Monday, January 11th
With the rise of photography in the nineteenth century, American journalists, governmental
agents, and photographers had a new, presumably “objective” way to document the final stages
of American westward expansion. They captured not only what they considered “pristine” and
“wild” landscapes of the West, but also the last days of indigenous American life and livelihood
as they had seen it. They documented various cultural interactions, including conflict and
resistance.
These photographs helped construct the myth of the West in the American popular
imagination, informing such cultural stories and spectacles as the “cowboys and Indians” of Old
Western movies and Buffalo Bill’s’ Wild West Show. Conspicuously missing from the center of
this photographic archive are the varied perspectives of indigenous Americans themselves,
though they are so often depicted in the images. This project is meant to help redirect the
“gaze” of dominant American culture towards the peoples and places that were marginalized or
decimated by westward expansion. Be aware that some images will lend themselves more to
analysis of visual content and others to analysis of historical context.
Research and Writing Plan
Notetaking Instructions
1) Select a photograph from those accessible on your section teacher’s SWIFT page.
2) These photos are selected from the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Do some
research on your photo’s historical context—and take thorough notes:
a. Where and when was it taken? Who took it? What was the background or context
in which the photo was taken? What was the purpose for taking the photo? Note:
Some photos will be more difficult to research, or will be vaguer in their details.
Be sure to research the image as thoroughly as possible.
3) Analyze the photograph’s visual content. Look at the framing of the image. Take
thorough notes on your observations:
a. What does it allow the viewer to see? What might be omitted?
b. Whose “gaze” does the photograph favor? In other words, what sort of attitude or
perspective does the photograph offer of its subject? How are the subjects
depicted?
c. What emotional reactions do you have? What emotional reactions do you think
the photographer, in his/her time and place, expected you to have?
Assignment Requirements
1) Look through the primary Native American texts we’ve been reading all week. Think
about the photo you chose, and carefully select a short excerpt to serve as a caption for
the photograph (no more than 2 sentences, ideally just one).
a. Your caption should “talk to” the photograph. What sort of tension between the
perspective of the Native speaker and the non-Native photographer does your
caption create?
b. What “missing” perspective does your caption provide for the image? Note: your
caption must come from the primary documents we’ve examined, not from any
secondary texts we’ve encountered.
Humanities 10
QIII 2016
2) Using your notes, write a short explication of your photograph and its caption, no more
than two pages in length. Do not conceive of your writing as a point-by-point
answer to these questions, but the explication should do two things:
a. It should make your choice of caption clear: Why did you choose it? What
perspective of the image did you intend for it to evoke?
b. It should specifically reference your research about the photo and its role in the
creation of the myth of America.
i. This is your opportunity to reflect critically on the act and consequences
of “otherizing” peoples and their cultural perspectives in order to advance
a dominant narrative of one’s own national history.
ii. Bear in mind that some photos lend themselves to you explaining more
of their historical context, while others will require more of your
analysis of the photo’s composition. Your research will tell you which
category your photograph falls into.
3) Write a Works Cited featuring at least 3 accurate, authoritative sources that informed
your research into the historical context of your photograph. Please be sure to format
your Works Cited according to MLA guidelines.