Cultural Geographic Divide

pdeeh · Jun 8, 2014

pasties?
In the UK, pasties are meat-and-pastry confections much consumed in the South-Western regions ...

"Nude with pasties" ... now there's something not even Bill Brandt in his pomp would have come up with

Wayne · Jun 8, 2014

Poisson Du Jour said:
Oh really!? Come visit us in Australia to view "the other" gluttons...

Or those 9 courses meat meals in Argentina (or maybe its only 6).

craygc · Jun 8, 2014

Some examples of cultural differences that prevail from Asia; Chinese (generally) perceive B&W images to represent the notion of the past, and more predominantly with someone/thing that has died. As such, appreciation of B&W imagery as an art form is not overly common amongst Chinese ethnics, although the world does evolve. A more general Asian mentality with respect to purchasing, for example, prints from a gallery exhibition of "good" documentary photography is "why would I want to hang a photo on the wall of someone I don't know!"

Photo Engineer · Jun 8, 2014

There is a divide according to extensive surveys done by EK. This divide is growing smaller as time passes, but it is there. It crosses a multitude of lines based on ethnic group and continent as well as religions beliefs.

PE

cliveh · Jun 8, 2014

Photo Engineer said:
There is a divide according to extensive surveys done by EK. This divide is growing smaller as time passes, but it is there. It crosses a multitude of lines based on ethnic group and continent as well as religions beliefs.

PE

PE, can you elaborate as to what nature this divide takes as noticed by EK?

Ian Grant · Jun 8, 2014

You need to look at the effect of the early Topographic photographers in the US quite different to Europe, then European switch much earlier than the US to smaller formats. Most importantly the very different effect of WWI & WWII on European photography. WWII almost killed photographic history as a continuous evolvement, materials were in limited supply in the UK the Government had asked people to give up high end cameras for military use and even after WWII new cameras were in very short supply until after 1950.

The first UK Art Photography Degree course only started in the 1970's, we hardly saw the work of US photographers until around the same time, It was the Family of Man Exhibition being shown in London that changed things here.

Ian

Photo Engineer · Jun 8, 2014

Well, one is that men tend to take a different style of photo than women, and although some disagree with me here, in Islamic cultures and some others, women are not allowed to take pictures.

As noted, the Chinese have the B&W / Color bias, and we have observed that Europeans prefer a different grade of contrast and color palette. Those are just a few.

PE

cliveh · Jun 8, 2014

Photo Engineer said:
in Islamic cultures and some others, women are not allowed to take pictures.PE

Is this true?

Ian Grant · Jun 8, 2014

cliveh said:
Is this true?

No. Maybe in one or two countries but in most of the Islamic world women take photos.

Ian

Newt_on_Swings · Jun 8, 2014

cliveh said:
Is this true?

I know that in a few countries many are not allowed schooling, the ability to vote, or drive a car among many other restrictions. The car thing was relatively new in the news too.

Photo Engineer · Jun 8, 2014

It depends on the country. There is no hard and fast rule. Generally, if women are not allowed to drive or go to school, then they cannot take photos. This is also true in parts of India I am told, but for other reasons. I don't have enough information and I have lost contact with those who did the surveys.

PE

Zedwardson · Jul 13, 2014

There is cultural divide even inside large areas such as the united states. When I visited France I took my camera. I took all sorts of shots. Most people thought that all my photos where good, but when I went to show some to my co-workers at the time, a few of them where HORRIFIED that I took a photo of a naked statue. They where outright offended.

Though everyone liked this photo.

benjiboy · Jul 14, 2014

Photo Engineer said:
It depends on the country. There is no hard and fast rule. Generally, if women are not allowed to drive or go to school, then they cannot take photos. This is also true in parts of India I am told, but for other reasons. I don't have enough information and I have lost contact with those who did the surveys.

PE

A Dutch lady the wife of one of my friends was telling me once that in Holland in country districts people would not have their pictures taken because they considered a camera to be "the eye of The Devil".
I do believe there are vast cultural geographic differences worldwide to views on the visual arts for example in Islamic Art depictions of the human form are forbidden because according to the Quran it is idolatry, so portraiture is out.

Alan Klein · Jul 14, 2014

craygc said:
... "why would I want to hang a photo on the wall of someone I don't know!"

I'm not Chinese, but I agree with this viewpoint. On the other hand, I have a friend who has a few framed pictures where the photos are not of members of his family. There's one in particular in his basement toilet that you can look at while you're doing your thing. It's in color and the picture my friend told me is of Ponce De Leon. I ask my friend why he picked a photo of a painting of this great explorer for his frame. He told me it came in the frame when he bought it and he saw no need to replace it.

analoguey · Jul 14, 2014

Photo Engineer said:
It depends on the country. There is no hard and fast rule. Generally, if women are not allowed to drive or go to school, then they cannot take photos. This is also true in parts of India I am told, but for other reasons. I don't have enough information and I have lost contact with those who did the surveys.

PE

That Indian reference is absolute gibberish. You may not like the place, but no excuse for tossing out ridiculous opinion as fact by word-of-mouth.

Sent from Tap-a-talk

Photo Engineer · Jul 14, 2014

I have no opinion one way or another about India in this regard. Don't judge me on it! The point is that I have been given this comment by a person doing a reputable survey for EK. IDK if it is correct or not, nor do I have any way to say more than what I did ("what I am told").

From my POV we have 2 opinions. One may involve an Islamic POV and the other may not. IDK.

PE

apkujeong · Jul 21, 2014

A few years back I heard quite a bit about a book claiming that Asians and Westerners think differently and perceive things differently (The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why, Richard Nisbett). I didn't read it so can't comment on it, but mention it in case it's of interest to anyone reading this thread.

There's a bit of related information at this link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/health/04iht-6sncult.1.10695876.html?pagewanted=all

"Culture can affect not just language and custom, but how people experience the world at stunningly basic levels - what they see when they look at a city street, for example, or even how they perceive a simple line in a square".

trythis · Jul 21, 2014

Having worked in very wealthy areas and lived in a very poor area within 3 miles of each other I can say geographical distances are relative (or irrelevant) to finding severely different perspectives from which to view anything. Generationally isolated hegemonic groups are good at tribalizing their views and habits in ways that keep them isolated.

Certainly as we study each others' tribal identities we will find both commonalities and unusual differences.

Perhaps geographical distances were once avenues for building wider and stranger variations but that will certainly be slowly reversing as the internet and travel become more ubiquitous.

DREW WILEY · Jul 21, 2014

Answering the original post : Absolutely. Dramatically at times. Even within different regions of the same country, different demographic socio-economic groups, ethnicities, proclivities, generational gaps. The first curator who gave me a gig way back cut his own teeth importing shows of Asian abstract expressionists to America. Talk about an interesting blend. No way those particular paintings would have been made in NYC.

cliveh · Jul 21, 2014

apkujeong said:
A few years back I heard quite a bit about a book claiming that Asians and Westerners think differently and perceive things differently (The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why, Richard Nisbett). I didn't read it so can't comment on it, but mention it in case it's of interest to anyone reading this thread.

There's a bit of related information at this link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/health/04iht-6sncult.1.10695876.html?pagewanted=all

"Culture can affect not just language and custom, but how people experience the world at stunningly basic levels - what they see when they look at a city street, for example, or even how they perceive a simple line in a square".

Thanks for the link and I like this:-

To use a camera analogy, "the Americans are more zoom and the East Asians are more panoramic," said Dr. Denise Park of the Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas in Dallas. "The Easterner probably sees more, and the Westerner probably sees less, but in more detail."

DREW WILEY · Jul 21, 2014

ppppppppffffffffffffffffffffffffffttttttttttttt !! I have a pal who goes backpacking with me to the same locations. We live nearby. He takes nothing but wide-angle lenses, I don't take any - prefer all longer focal lengths. We look at the same subject and compose it totally differently.
Just personal inclination, and has zero to do with whether one is from the East or West. I'm sure you'd find just as many personal inclinations
in the Orient. After all, don't those guys make pretty much the same range or choices of focal length lenses as the Germans do?

tron_ · Jul 29, 2014

I think similar to how fashion varies from continent to continent, visual style does as well.

It is my experience that the biggest difference lies in Eastern vs. Western photography moreso than North American vs. South American vs. Europe vs. Etc.

Photographs with Western influence appear to be more strong and poignant from a stylistic point of view. They have more of an initial "grab" and "flash" to them which I personally attribute to a more open and relaxed culture.

When I look at the work of Eastern photographers, I feel as though there is a more subtle style both in terms of subject and aesthetics. The photographs generally have a lot of room for interpretation and have a sense of mystery to them.

Mainecoonmaniac · Jul 29, 2014

No. Not with the slow but insipid Disneyfying of international media. On the other hand, there are some really cool Indy films from all over the world and growing interest of global music. The world is shrinking because of technology.

Cultural Geographic Divide

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