In this original and highly illustrated book Jane Lydon uses photography to tell the story of the struggle for Aboriginal rights in Australia. While many of the images are shocking, the book tells the positive story of the way in which photography has been used as a tool for change and as recognition of our shared humanity.
Emotions are not universal, but are experienced and expressed differently across cultures and times. Jane Lydon examines how emotions were used to justify, advance or contest imperialism by creating relationships between British subjects across the globe, but also by excluding specific groups.
The book examines the interconnected histories of British anti-slavery efforts and Australian colonization, suggesting that the colonization of Australasia played a crucial role in the emancipation of enslaved individuals in the Caribbean. It posits that while the anti-slavery movement influenced the Settler Revolution, the dynamics of colonization also shaped the broader imperial context of emancipation. This analysis offers a fresh perspective on both historical narratives, highlighting their mutual impact.
With their power to create a sense of proximity and empathy, photographs have long been a crucial means of exchanging ideas between people across the globe; this book explores the role of photography in shaping ideas about race and difference from the 1840s to the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights. Focusing on Australian experience in a global context, a rich selection of case studies – drawing on a range of visual genres, from portraiture to ethnographic to scientific photographs – show how photographic encounters between Aboriginals, missionaries, scientists, photographers and writers fuelled international debates about morality, law, politics and human rights. Drawing on new archival research, Photography, Humanitarianism, Empire is essential reading for students and scholars of race, visuality and the histories of empire and human rights.