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Casting Shadows Now and Then
The use of photography in the observation and analysis of social change in Digby County,Nova Scotia
Kathleen Flanagan
A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education Department of Adult Education, Community Development, and Counselling Psychology Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto
O Copyright by Kathleen Flanagan 1999 National Library Bibliotheque nationale of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada Your hk Volre raleftmce
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Abstract
The potential of photography as a tool for observing and analysing social change is investig~tedby considering a bdy of photographs of Digby County, Nova Scda taken during a two-year period in the 1950s. The photographs were produced by John Collier
Jr. who is significant to the development of social documentary photography as part of the acclaimed Farm Security Administration photographic project which created powerful images of Depression-era America. Collier's 1967 book, VisuafAnthropology, was influential in developing methodology for using the camera as a research tool in anthropology. His Digby County photographs depict a community experiencing major economic and social changes. This project considers the efficacy ofthe Collier collection as a tool for observing and analysing social change. The photographs are examined within the context of an inquiry into current conditions in Digby County. The theoretical framework is informed by postmodern cultural theory, an analysis of documentary and anthropological photography, and a critical perspective on the globalization of culture and economy. The dissertation includes photographs of Digby County taken in 1998. Work, community, and landscape are identified as critical locales for assessing the vitality. identity, and overall well-being of the county. Dedicated to the memory of those who cast shadows then and now:
Gerry Geddes 1947-1990
Mary Elizabeth Flanagan 1947-1995
Maureen Watson 1956-1998
And to their children:
Rob, Tricia, Jenny, Karen, Rosemary, Sarah, Fiona, and Alex Geddes Kate, Alex, Chris, Justin, Martina, and Mary Alma Bateman Andrea, Brendon, Caelan, and Siobhan Flanagan
.-kknowledgernents ore gratefiilly given to: Barbara Burnuby. Deborah Barndt. Bzrcfd Hd, and iblury Collier: Joeanne Coffey,John D'Orsa~,Glynis Humphrey, Tony Kelly, Judith Meyrick. Chris Nielserr, and Tim Sullivan; Dirvid Roback. Jonah Flanagan, and Hdey Robnck: and the Novo Scoria Arts Cormcil. Casting Shadows Now and Then Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction page 6
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration of Photography as a Tool for Social Analysis page 19 I. Introduction 2. An epistemological overview 3. The visual anthropology tradition 4. The social documentary tradition 5. Conclusion
Chapter 3 Methodology page 70 I. Issues around methodology 2. Four methodological models 3. Methodology used with Collier photographs
Chapter 4 The Digby County Collection page 101 1 . Background 2. John Collier Jr. 3. Disby County
Chapter 5 Images of Digby County in 1950-51 page I53 1. Introduction 2. The Photographs: Work 3. The Photographs: Community 4. The Photographs: Landscape 5. Summary
Chapter 6 Images of Digby County in 1998 page 178
Chapter 7 Conclusion page 220
Bibliography page 229 Tables and Photographs
Tab Ics
Table I Nurn ber of Negatives by Camera Format page 92
Table II Camen format, Negative number. and Date page 95
Table 111 List of Codes page 98
Table IV Social Change Themes page 99
Map of Digby County page I 18
Photographs of Digby County in 1998 pages 1 86-2 19
page I Chapter One Introduction
Photography's Problematic Role in Social Analysis
Photography occupies unsettled territory in the topography of social science. Positioned in the domain of positivism. photographs are perceived to offer empirical evidence. Sited uithin the sphere of social representation. they aspire to arouse empathy. compassion. adimayinatiun.
The dichotomy of these contending locations creates a fault-line for photographrrs working in the arena of social science. Do photographic images offer researchers data or conclusions'?
While this broad epistemological question has remained largely unresolved. anthropologists. sociologists. historians. journalists. and documentary photographers. mindful of the medium's uneasy synthesis of objectivity and compassion. have tended to work within delineated (if unstated) conventions. using photography's features of verisimilitude to demonstrate. substantiate. and establish veracity. while drawing on its properties of representation to illustrate. describe. and persuade.
The equilibrium necessary to maintain this synthesis has been thrown off balance - and the debate about the relationship between photography and truth consequently bypassed - by recent developments in photography. Advances in digital imaging technology have undermined photography's long-standing mandate to provide an authentic representation of reality: postmodem theory has challenged photography's claim to communicate ideals of humanistic universality across inequitable power relations of class. race. and gender: and the separation betweed art and documentary photography has been blurred by the stabilizing of photography's
Chuptrr I Introduction Pus 6 placement within the world of contemporary art (a gradual process initiated by Alfred Stieglitz's
Photo-Secessionists and arguably secured with Edward Steichen's Family of Man exhibit at the
Museum of Modem Art in 1955). This blurring. which has occurred in both modem art with its emphasis on formalism and aestheticism. and postmodem art with its use of parody. cynicism. and deliberate uncertainty. has prompted a reading of documentary photography emptied of specific social and historic content. The inherently humanistic sensibility in which documentap photography is grounded has been contested by postmodernism's Fragmentation. relativism. and validation of multiple meanings. The postmodem perspective contends that photographs provide unstable tests with meaning that is specific to a shifting social context. The impact of these changes - occurring in both the supporting theory and exhibiting venue of photography - has been magnified by the recent fusing of photographic and digital technologies which allow infinite and seamless manipulations of photographic imagery. The camera's claim to provide visual data that is fixed. tangible. and verifiable has been abrogated.
These developments have led to an irreversible uncoupling of the already fragile conceptual connection between photography and truth. and have effectively dismantled the theoretical and discursive underpinnings that constructed photographic data as evidence. .At the same time. a crisis has arisen for documentary photographers because of the ascendancy of a style of imagery in commercial advertising that mimics the documentary style. Realist. metonymic techniques of representation - many of them developed in pursuit of social justice - have been usurped for promotional and advertising purposes by agents of corporate consumerisml subverting documentary photography from a political strategy to a stylistic choice.
The partnership between photography and social justice has become suspect.
Chapter 1 Introduction page 7 Photography has a long association with social issues. as is apparent in John Thornson's
images of 19th century London slums. published in 1877 by journalist Adolphe Smith
(Gernsheim. 1965); Lewis Hine's photographs of child labour and immigration in the first
decades of the 20th century (Hine. 1977): the Farm Security Administration depictions ofthe
economic depression in 1930s rural America (Stryker and Wood. 1973); Ken Heyman's
collaborative work in the 1950s with anthropologist Margaret Mead (Mead and Heyman. 1965):
Eugene Smith's Minarnata photographs (Smith. 1 975); and photographs produced by countless journalists. researchers. fieldworkrrs. community activists. and cultural workers who.
particularly since Xmm photography's expansion period of the 1970s. have used the
photographic image to analyse. communicate. and effect social change. Straddling multiple
disciplines. photography has expanded the conventions and practices of journalism.
anthropology. adult education. sociology. and art. Now facing major shifts in the technology.
discourse. and practice of photography. researchers must consider whether the photographic
image has a role in the study of social change.
The phrase 'social change' resonates in curious ways for photographers. The tmhas
long been associated with the particular genre of documentary photography that is identi tied with
social reform. Photographs given the designation of social change are seen to be not just records
of circumstances. but also instruments of change. advancing reform by exposing social problems.
Frequently embedded within this idea is the unstated postulate that social change necessarily
represents an improvement over the past. Within this nebulous ideological analysis. change is
perceived as a benign process that benefits society as a whole. improving conditions for all.
Martha Rosler ( 1981 ) contends that documentary photography functions as the cultural
Chapter I Introduction pcrge 8 expression of liberalism. and that the blurring of the documentary photography category
undermines the goals of those photographers who seek political change by subsuming them into
the broader grouping of photographers whose political content and aspirations are unformed and
unacknowledged.
The process by which a society changes is complex. often involving many agents. many
outcomes. and many ramifications. The examination of social change through photographic
methodology is similarly layered with complexity. Since the benefits and costs of social change
are rarely equitably shared among all who experience the consequences. the question of
perspective is clearly crucial. The camera. which records a static monocular perspective. is
particularly ill-suited to documenting change. As the acclaimed p hoto-based English artist David
Hockney suggests with his ironic comparison of the camera to "a paralysed Cyclopst' (CBC radio
interview. January 1997). a single image has limited capacity for showing movement and
growth'. The photographic representation of social change requires a minimum of two images.
one depicting 'before'. the other standing for 'aAer'. In addition. the pre-existent contest (the
camera-less site), which may reveal contradiction. complexity. diversity. and multiplicity. is not
shown. indeed cannot be shown. in a photograph. The mere presence of the camera makes
uncertain the validity of the photograph as an authentic record of reality. Heisenberg's
uncertainty principle - the scientific maxim which states that the presence OFscientific measuring
devices can skew the accuracy of the measurement - applies in social science as in physics.
Photographs are often mistaken for. in Susan Sontag's words (1973. p.69). "found objects
Hockney's technique for overcoming these limitations is to produce multiple photographs taken from different perspectives at different times which are then assembled into a single Cubist-like image.
Chapter I Introduction Page 9 - unpremeditated slices of the world". The tendency to see photographs as empirical evidence not requiring mediation obscures the medium's proclivity to convey narratives that funcrion within a large discourse of social meaning. The process by which a photograph is read. by which meaning is assigned to an image, is a complex one in which multiple Factors - content. composition. captions. viewing context. and semiotic codes that are culturally and historically determined - combine to construct a preferred meaning. This meaning is inevitably informed by the political and cultural context. Photographs function within a signifying system in which the codes (fisherman = simple: woman = nurturing; Black = poor) operate as implicit and necessary deciphering devices; the metonymic codes rely on. and simultaneously reinforce. stereotypes. conventions. and social values. The process for interpreting documentary photography is laryrtl? unmediated because of assumptions of transparency and authenticity. Since photographs edit reality. editorial interventions are inevitable: the power relations embedded in the editorial interventions. photographing circumstances. and complex social processes by which the meaning is formed tend to be obscured.
Rieger (1996) provides an examination of the use of photography in longitudinal research through the strategy of systematic visual measurement. He asserts that. since social change docs not always appear in visual phenomena in uniform and predictable ways (and ohen occurs
3uradually and imperceptibly) and because photography is necessarily reliant on visual information. the by to using photography in the study of social change lies in tinding significant and serviceable benchmarks. visual indicators of change. The methodological strategy described by Rieger is the identification of an element of continuity - a constant - which can then be used to delineate social changes through a series of photographs taken at successive points in time.
Chapter I fntrodtrction page /O Rieger posits that the use of photography in social science is "a special kind of qualitative method" (p.46). This positioning of photography within the domain of qualitative research methodology offers a conceptual fiarnework for understanding the particular attributes of photography as a research tool for social scientists. Qualitative research methodology "entails immersion in the everyday life ...and is primarily descriptive" (Marshall & Rossman. 1989. p. 1 1 ).
Claims to objectivity. validity. transferability. and generalizability are specitic to the particular context.
Despite photography's current unsettled position in social research and its intrinsically dichotomous attributes as a tool for social analysis. the medium offers a method for visualizing social change that is undeniably specific. indisputably accessible. and demonstrably mnemonic.
.As a device for communicating ideas. the photograph is immediate and rkctive. able to quickly and convincingly organize thought around a visual symbol. Like other qualitative methods. photography is a data collection technique that offers description and specificity. These features suggest that the camen offers a usefulness to social research that may endure despite the challenges presented by the postmodem perspective and the collapse of the medium's dubious claims to accuracy and objectivity. But the increasing commodification and advancing corporate control of photographic imagery for promotion of a consumer culture has made the uncertainty surrounding the role of photography in social research more pressing.
The Research Project of Casting Shadows Now and Then
This dissertation is concerned with epistemological and methodological issues that converge around photography's place in social research. Using a theoretical framework that is informed by postmodem cultural theorv, an analysis of historical documentary and anthropological photography, and a critical perspective on the globalization of culture and economy. the project examines photographs of Digby County in Nova Scotia that were taken b\
John Collier Jr. during a two-year period in the 1950s. The social information conveyed bv these images is considered within the context of the social and economic changes that have occurred since the photographs were taken. The research question posed by this dissertation project focuses on the efficacy of the Collier collection as a tool for observing and analysing social change. The photographs are examined and discussed within a hework of social inquiry into current conditions.
The Collier photographs of Digby County were produced in 1950-5 I as part ot'a longitudinal rpidemiological study of the sociocultural conditions of the region. Designed to improve an understanding of the relationship between the psychiatric health of individuals md the social health of a community. the study used a wide range of methodology to gather information about life in Digby County. including photographic documentation. The photographs depict a community undergoing major economic and social changes as the technology used in the primary industries of fishing. fish processing, logging. and mired farming became more mechanized. more capital-intensive. and more regulated. There were also major shifts in social relations during this period around gender. race. and ethnicity. These changes. clearly visible from the vantage point of history. appear in Collier's photographs as subtle. individual. complex. and contradictory experiences.
There are several features about the Digby County photographic project that make it an auspicious case study on photography and social change. Because the project was based on a
Chapter I Introduction page I2 broad understanding of sociocultural conditions. the photographs depict virtually everything that
was available as visuai data - landscapes, work sites, kitchens. clothes. houses. and faces. As a
result. the photographs which consist of almost 7.000 images are an extraordinarily rich source of
information. Produced by John Collier. whose experience in Digby County eventually led to his
authoritative book on research methodology. Viszral ilnrhropologv ( 1967). the photographs
provide the basis for the methodological framework developed by Collier. The scientific contest
ensured field notes with dates. names. and locations carefully recorded. Because the photographs
were created within a context where there was a close personal involvement between rhe
researclws and the community. the images have an compassionate engagement that enhances
their strength and emotional accessibility. Because they were taken by an experienced and
knowledgeable documentary photographer using first-rate professional equipment who had a
high level of curiosity about and respect for the people he photographed. the images are
consistently probing. creatively revealing. and technically very strong.
The documentary approach used by John Collier places emphasis on the economic.
political. and social conditions which provide a clear basis for understanding social change. This
approach was employed by Collier during the period that he worked with the Farm Security
Administration. the highly influential group of photographers who documented rural and small-
town America during the Depression of the 1930s. By focusing on a region where the fishing
industry has singular significance. Collier's photographs of Digby County record an industry
which was beginning a climb towards a peak of activity; the import of these images is enhanced
because this industry. almost 50 years later, has collapsed and is sliding towards annihilation.
Likewise by focusing on an area which contains geographically distinct French. English. and
Chapter I introduction page 13 Black communities, the images depict arenas where linguistic and racial conflicts are embodied.
The fortuitous longevity of Collier's wife and co-worker. Mary Collier, ensures an additional source of information about the photographs that has proved to be very valuable. The donation of the collection to the Public Archives of Nova Scotia by the principal investigator of the epidemiological project permits the photographs to be publicly accessible to researchers'. For a11 these reasons. the photographs of Digby County have proved to be ideally suited for this project which explores photography's function as a research tool.
A logical beginning point in this endeavour is to consider photography's relationship with truthfulness. Chapter 2 investigates the critical discourse on the historic and contemporary use of photography in the visual anthropology and social documentary traditions. Although the camera is n selective tool which necessarily distils. reduces. and abstracts. it has traditionally held a privileged claim among both viewers and photographers as a vehicle for truth. The discoursr: around photography 's defining features. while acknowledging its selective properties. has been dominated by the view that the camera is an objective. neutral recorder of observable fact.
Within the modernist paradigm of materialism and positivism. photography has been perceived as having the ability to replicate in a miniaturized format an externally generated. visually observable reality. The medium. in its essence. has been associated with verisimilitude: thus. individual photographs can be shown to be manipulated or distorted without thwarting photography's overriding claim to honesty.
' Although the photographs are accessible to accredited researchers. reproduction requires the approval of the principal investigator of the epidemiological project who seeks the consent of the subjects. The principal investigator refused permission to reproduce sample photographs in this dissertation. citing issues of privacy and confidentiality .
Chapter 2 h-oducrion page I4 The conceptual linkage between photography and objectivity has its origins in the late
19th century when anthropological methods. institutional bureaucracies. and policing techniques were developed simultaneously with the technology of photography. Photography's primary political function shifted in North America from a strategy of control by bureaucratic institutions in the 19th century to a strategy of representation by an alliance of government. industry. and mass communication organizations during the early part of the 20th century (Tagg. 1988). The medium was claimed as an offspring not only of the discipline of scientific observation but also of the arenas of art and journalism. The camera's historic association with truth became supplemented by an association with justice and compassion. allowing the medium to develop its capacity to convey emotion. aesthetics. and narrative through reproduction in magazines. newspaper. and books aimed at a mass audience.
Efforts to understand the uncertain relationship between photography and 'objective' reality have led to comparisons between the camera and the human eye. As the eye has the potential to misread reality. so the camera has the capacity to record false evidence: both are perceived nevertheless to offer a direct unmediated experience with a factual reality. However despite the claims of similarity. there are significant differences between ocular and photographic discenuncnt. Visual perception draws on multiple sources of information which are located in the viewer's private and personal domain to determine meaning. sources such as direct physical interaction. non-visual senses, and spatial and temporal transformations. whereas the construction of meaning around photographic information. limited to a split second of decontextualized, fragmented visual data, relies on a cultural and social context. The analysis of photographs necessitates a probe of the cultural conditions that shape their meaning.
-- - Chapter I Introduction page I5 Chapter 3 addresses the question of methodology for conducting an analysis of photographs. Noting that the North American culture is permeated with imagery laden with hidden ideology, this chapter asserts that an analysis of visual data must be a careful. thoughtful process. The epistemological domain of anthropological photography. which informed the
Digby County photographs, is examined. particularly the category of anthropological photography that has been designated by Kolodny (1978) as 'realist'. The realist model. which encapsulates many features of the Collier photographs. is based (according to Kolodny's analytical framework) within a positivist. empirical paradigm which seeks to use observable visual data to obtain information identitied as factual. and assumes that this information can be presented accurately and objectively through the processes of scrutiny and transmogritication.
Four examples of research using anthropological photographs are reviewed in Chapter 3 for their methodological techniques. each model with particular relevance to the Digby County photographs. This review culminated in the development of a methodology that was employed to analysr the Digby County photographs. Among the critical methodological techniques is the identitication of additional sources of inforrnation.
Chapter 4 provides background information to the Digby County photographs including detailed descriptions of the county's geography. history, population, and economic conditions. the epidemiological study which generated the photographs. and John Collier's contribution to the development of documentary photography. The development of the county is described from a critical perspective which identifies the key features of the region's economy as exploitation by controlling forces located outside the county. underdevelopment resulting in social dislocation. and mismanagement of resources culminating in the collapse of the county's economic mainstay.
- - Cliapter 2 hitrodtrction page 16 the groundfish industry. The section on Collier draws on an open-ended. taped interview which was conducted for this research project in August 1995 with Mary Trumbull Collier. John's widow and co-worker. Mary described John's introduction to Dig by County. his photographic objectives, record-keeping techniques. and photographic methods: she also offered insight into the personal dynamics between the photographer and the community.
Chapter 5 encompasses the analysis of photographs from the Digby County collection.
Using the broad categories of work. community. and landscape as organizational categories. the content of the photographs is examined from a perspective informed by feminism. class analysis. and issues of race. Noting that the organizational categories are not discrete classitications since the subject matter of photographs inevitably overlaps several categories. viewers are urged IO use the strategy of ' interactive production of meaning' to read the photographs holistically. This strategy. which is described as consciously drawing on additional sources of information to assess the photographs' content and meaning. is designed to help to circumvent photography's tendency to romanticize. simplify. and de-contextualize. The images point to the arenas of work. community. and landscape. depicted in the Collier photographs as overlapping sites. as critical locales for assessing the vitality. identity. and overall well-being of Digby County.
Chapter 6 introduces a series of current documentary photographs of present-day Digby
County that were produced for this dissertation project. These images use the landscape - both natural and constructed - as a lens for viewing the economic conditions. values. and activities of present-day Digby County. Utilizing the matrix of work. community. and landscape identified as intrinsic to Collier's images, these photographs focus on the landscape as a device for understanding the sociocultural conditions of work and community. The photographs suggest
-- - Chapter I Introduction page I' that Digby County is enmeshed in another period of major social uansformation. Globalization and assimilation threaten the cultural richness of the county; a lack of economic opportunities and the outmigration of population and resources imperil its economic viability. The natural landscape appears to provide a visual motifsthat is unchanged in the 50 years since John Collier photographed, but its appearance disguises the reality of an environment under threat. Over- fished. with the stocks impaired by causes still incompletely understood. the natural landscape offers a stark symbol both of a transformation that is unseen. whose impact is made visible by indirect indicators. and of the inadequacy of photographic data when used in isolation from other sources of information.
The past casts shadows on the present. Current social and economic conditions have been produced by previous decisions. events. and circumstances. An understanding of the past sheds light on the present; a thoughtful and erudite analysis of the past can assist decision-making for the future. The objective of this research study is to consider the use of photographs of Digby
County taken in 1950.5 1 in an examination of current social and economic conditions.
Chapter I Introduction page 18 Chapter Two A Critical Consideration of Photography as a Tool for Social Analysis
1. Introduction
Like other information-gathering methods. photography has its own culture. history. and conventions which inevitably structure and inform the practice of photography in social analysis.
Before addressing the Digby County photographs. the general question of the use of photography as a tool for observing and analysing social change must be explored. This chapter considers issues around photography's placement within the framework of social investigation. the debates among visual perception psychologists. semiotic linguists. and cultural theorists about rht: medium's relationship with reality. and the contemporary discourse on the ideological and political functions of visual anthropology and documentary photography.
More than most media. photography has been characterized by an ongoing identity struggle. Since its inception in 1839 as a method for fragmenting, fixing. and (ultimately) reproducing individual particles of space. time, and movement. the photographic process has been scrutinized by critics for its placement within the discourses of science and art. Alan
Trachtenberg (199 i) describes the history of essays on photography as
... a continuing effort. a more or less conscious struggle to endow the medium with identity, to give it a graspable meaning within existing mentai universes. From the beginning, the challenge proved difficult and hazardous. While the medium seemed to accord comfortably with the familiar categories of visual craft and art. the mechanical and apparently automatic character of its procedures defied categorization as either craft or art. (p.3
Chapter t R Critical Consideration page I9 In particular. photography's perceived objectivity. its capacity for a seemingly neutral.
factual. and visually accurate rendering of reality, juxtaposed with the narrowness of its
perspective. its decided selectivity, has proved a point of tension in this struggle around identity
Susan Sontag (1973) refers to the duality of photography's identity when she writes:
Photograph are. of course artifacts. But their appeal is that they also seem. in a world littered with photographic relics, to have the status of found objects - unpremeditated slices of the world. Thus, they trade simultmeously on the prestige of art and the magic of the real. They are clouds of fantasy and pellets of information. (p.69)
The dichotomy of realism and representation suggested by Sontag demarcates a significant
fault-line underlying the critical discourse on the reliability of photography as an information-
gathering method. On one hand. the camera appears to record a factual. physical. material reality
generated outside the creative actions of the photographer: on the other the images depict a
perspective inevitably narrowed. edited. and mediated. To understand photography's role in
social research. the epistemological relationship between reality and photographic imagery nerds
to be explored.
2. An Epistemological Overview
Visual Perception Research
Few would deny that the intrinsic appeal of photography lies in its verisimilitude. But
many writers (among them. Sekula. 197511982. Rosler. 198 1. and Tagg, 1988) have argued that
the sense of realism conveyed by photographs is deceptive, that the apparent transparency is in
fact strongly mediated. Terence Wright (1 992) reviews research in the field of visual perception to shed light on the issue of accuracy of photographic imagery. Wright speculates that there are
Chapter 2 .-iCritical Consideration page 20 two reasons for photography's traditional claim as an instrument of evidence: the presumed
causal connection between reality and image (in which the image is directly transcribed by
naturally created light patterns). and the apparent similarity between the camera and the eye both
in physical structure and observational function. The eye-camera analogy has tended to equate
the perception of the world with the perception of images and has therefore fit comfortably
within the paradigm of positivist. empirical scientific research.
However the agreeable notion that the camera is a kind of long-distance eye has not
withstood advances in theories of visual perception which now place greater emphasis on the
interaction of the information received optically with the perceiver's active engagement with the
environment - touching, observing from various angles. using non-visual and extra-visual
information such as context. "Perception considered in terms of its active. exploratory nature is
seen as a process that occurs over time. It is the transformations in a total pattern of stimulation
that specify the properties of the world" (Wright. 1992. p.22). According to the psychologist J. 1.
Gibson ( 1979). errors in perception within the psychology laboratory occur most tiequently
when the perceiver is a passive spectator. viewing from a distance through a peep-hole. unable to
touch or change perspective or observe through temporal or spatial transformations. (The
comparison of laboratory conditions for perception studies with the viewing of photographs is
striking.) Drawing on the work of Gestalt psychologists, Gibson developed a holistic theory of
visual perception, based on the thesis that vision does not depend solely on the eye and the brain.
Natural vision depends on the eyes in the head on a body supported by the ground. the brain being only the central organ of a complete visual system. When no constraints are pui on the visual system, we look around. walk up to something interesting and move around it so as to see it from all sides, and go from one vista to another. That is natural vision. (Gibson, 1979, p. 1)
Chaprer 2 rl Critical Consideration page 2 I Arguing that this research in visual perception has implications for photography. Wright points to the anthropological work of Segall. Campbell and Herskovits ( 1966) who report anecdotal evidence of people seeing a photograph for the first time and failing to perceive it as anything other than a two-dimensional rectangular object surrounded by a white edge and containing irregular shadings of grey. Segall el ril. suggest that "one can regard the photograph as we use it as an arbitrary linguistic convention not shared by all peoplesJ' (p.33).
The research into visual perception suggests that. despite the camera's apparent similarity to the human eye. the analogy between vision and photography is a misleading one. The determination of meaning that accompanies visual experiences draws on multiple sources of information that are located primarily within the viewer's private and personal domain. Direct physical interaction. use of tactile and other non-visual senses. and observations of spatial and temporal transformations are necessary aids for accurate and meaningful visual perception. In contrast. photographs are decontextualized fragments of tixed visual data: the content cannot be manipulated or observed from different angles if the viewer chooses. Because of these restrictions the construction of their meaning relies on a cultural and social context. The implications of this distinction between ocular and photographic perception are unmistakable: the analysis of photographs must pay close attention to the cultural conditions that construct their meaning.
Linguistics and Photography
Like visual perception psychologists. cultural critics and structural linguists have also considered the question of the relationship between reality and photographic imagery. Roland
Chuprer 2 .-ICritical Consideration page 22 Barthes (1 98 1) assens the realist position claiming that there is an existential connection between
"the necessarily real thing which has been placed before the lens" (p.76) and the resulting photographic image. While acknowledging the multi-layered encoding of the photographic message that occurs through the title, text, lay-out, and viewing context, Barthes maintains that the camera is an instrument of evidence. "In Photography I can never deny". Barthes states. "rhar rhr thing hczs been [here" (p.76).
C'iirnrrcr Lucida. Barthes's posthumously published treatise on photography. expands on concepts that were explored throughout his three-decade writing career. In his 196 1 essay. "The
Photographic Message". Barthes explains the relationship between the world and the photograph when he writes.
From the object to its image there is of course a reduction - in proportion. perspective. colour - but at no time is this reduction a trans/ormcltion (in the mathematical sense ot'thr term). In order to move from the reality to its photograph it is in no way necessary to divide up this reality into units and to constitute these units as signs. substantially different from the object they communicate ... Certainly the image is not the reality but at least it is its perfect nnirlogon and it is exactly this analogical perfection which. to common sense. defines the photograph. Thus can be seen the special status of the photographic image: it is* tr message without cr code. (Barthes. 196 1/77. p. 17)
Barthes distinguishes photography from other analogical reproductions of reality (such as drawings. paintings. cinema. and theatre) which. he says. have both
...a denoted message. which is the analogon itself. and a connoted message. which is the manner in which the society to a certain extent communicates what it thinks of it. ...The photograph professing to be a mechanical analogue of reality, its first-order [i.e. denoted] message in some son completely fills its substance and leaves no place for the development of a second-order [i.e. connoted] message. Of all the structures of information. the photograph appears as the only one that is exclusively constituted and occupied by a 'denoted' message, a message which totally exhausts its mode of existence. (Ibid..pp. 17- 18)
Chapter 2 .4 Critical Consideration page 23 This separation of connotation and denotation provides Barthes with a means to explain \ photographic inaccuracies and distortions, an issue that clearly presents some difficulty to the realist position. Such deceptions (intended or otherwise) occur. Barthes argues. at the connotation stage and represent "a coding of the photographic analogue" (Ibid..p.30). Banhrs identifies six connotation procedures:
The first three (trick effects. pose, objects) should be distinguished from the last three (photogenia. aestheticism. syntax). since in the former the connotation is produced by a modification of the reality itself. of. that is. the denoted message (such preparation is obviously not peculiar to the photograph). If they are nevertheless included among the connotation procedlaes. it is because they too benefit tiom the prestige of the denotation: the photograph allows the photographer to conceal rlzisively the preparation to which he subjects the scene to be recorded. (Ibid., p.21)
Barthes is arguing that the photograph is an analogue of physical reality. and that the assigning of meaning is a secondary activity. Elizabeth Edwards ( 1 992) suggests that "it may be more useful to consider that the photograph is an analogue of visual ttsperiencr and as such o culturally based ordering of the world in which the signifier and the signified are read at one and the same time" (p.8). Indeed the distinction that Barthes makes between the connotation and denotation procedures is a fine one since many of the connotation procedures appear to be an intrinsic part of the image. For example. photogenia refers to the techniques of lighting. exposure. and printing, which are the three basic necessities involved in the production of the photograph. Barthes suggests that the connoted message is comprised of the image itself (i.e. the denoted message. the message without codes) embellished by the techniques of lighting. exposure. and printing. Allan Sekula (197511982) dismisses this distinction. saying "In the real world no such separation is possible. Any meaninghl encounter with a photograph must necessarily occur at the level of connotation" (p.87).
-- - Chapter 2 f Critical Consideration page 24 John Berger and Susan Sontag, two of photography's most widely published and best
known critics. are proponents of the realist position miculated by Barthes. Berger ( 1972) says
"...photographs are records of things seen" (p. 179); and Sontag (1973) concurs. "Photographs
t'umish evidence" (p. 15). John Berger's 1968 essay "Understanding a Photograph" makes a
distinction between photography and other art forms, (and between the 'reducing' and
'transforming' aspects of photography):
Painting interprets the world. translating it into its own language. But photography has no language of its own. One learns to read photographs as one learns to rend footprints or cardiograms ... .A photograph is effective when the chosen moment which it records contains a quantum of truth which is generally applicable ... All this may seem close to the old principle of art transforming the particular into the universal. But photography docs no: deal in constructs. There is no transforming in photography. There is only decision. only focus. ( 196811978. p. 18 1)
The reductionist view of photography tinds agreement with Susan Sontag (1 973):
What is written about a person or an event is frankly an interpretation. as are handmade visual statements. like paintings and drawings. Photographed images do not seem to be statements about the world so much as pieces of it. miniatures of reality that anyone can make or acquire ... A photograph passes for incontrovertible proof that a given thing happened. The picture may distort: but there is always a presumption that something exists. or did exist. which is like what's in the picture. (p.4-5)
Although Sontag and Berger describe photographs' recording properties. they are both
keenly aware of the complex ideological functions of photography. despite its appearance of
neutrality. its seeming objectivity. Sontag (1973) writes of the "aestheticizing tendency" of
photographs: "...the medium which conveys distress ends by neutralizing it. Cameras miniaturize experience, transform history into spectacle. As much as they create sympathy. photographs cut sympathy, distance the emotions. Photography's realism creates a confusion about the real"
(p. 109- 1 10). Similarly Berger (1 980) comments in his essay "Photographs of Agony" that "the photographed moment" in Vietnam as recorded by American war photographer Don McCullin is
Chapter Z .4 Critical Consideration pugr 3 "discontinuous with all other moments". that "...the issue of the war which has caused that moment is effectively depoliticized. The picture becomes evidence of the general human condition. It accuses nobody and everybody" (p.39-40).
The realist position argued by Barthes has been widely contested particularly by semiologists using linguistic analysis in cultural interpretation. Umberto Eco ( 1976). tbr example. is scathing about what he calls "the naive assumption that icons [including photographs] are non-coded analogical devicest' (p-viii). He argues that all signs. including images. are arbitrary. are based on convention. and require interpretation. In his 1970 essay
"Critique of the [magst'. Eco writes (somewhat prematurely. given the later writings of Barthes.
Sontag. and Berger):
The theory of the photo as an unulogzre of reality has been abandoned. even by those who once upheld it - we know that it is necessary to be trained to recognize the photographic image. We know that the image which takes shape on celluloid is analogous to the retinal image but not to that which we perceive. (1982. p.32)
Far from being an untransformed. reduced version of reality. a photograph "possesscts none of the properties of the object represented" (Ibid.. p.32). according to Eco. John Tagg ( 1988) offers this claritication of Eco's position: "It has been said by Umberto Eco. that if photography is likened to perception. this is not because the former is a 'natural' process but because the latter is also coded' (p. 187). The process of perceiving inevitably transfom~sthe original object.
According to Peter Wollen who wrote the notes for Eco's 1970 article (which was reprinted in
Thinking Photography in 1982). Eco "concedes that looking at a photograph of a zebra is closer in some respects to looking at an actual zebra than it is to hearing or reading the word 'zebra'"
(p.220); in Eco's words, "iconic signs reproduce some of the conditions of perception" (IbLL. p.32).
Chapter t A Critical Consideration page 2 6 This discussion draws on C.S. Peirce's (1934) classic schemata for categorizing visual representations. icon. index. and symbol (where the icon is seen to resemble what it stands for. e.g. a visual representation of fire; the index is associated with. and has a causal connection with. what it is a sign for. e.g. smoke: and the symbol is only conventionally linked with its referent. r.g. the written word for fire). The traditional semiotic detinition of the index is a symbol that fulfils its representative function "by virtue of a character which it could not have if its object did not exist" (pp.50-5 I). Rosalind Krauss (1978) describes the photograph as an index or a wcr. since its connection to the object it represents is a physical one. A photograph. Krauss writes.
...is an imprint or transfer off the real; it is a photochemically processed trace causally connected to that thing in the world to which it refers in a manner parallel to that of fingerprints or footprints or the rings of water that cold glasses leave on tables ...Drawings and paintings are icons. while photographs are indexes. (Quoted by Maren Stangc. 1989. p.66)
Terence Wright (1992) suggests that the blurred photograph which typically indicates motion (a concept difficult to convey in the fixed image) is an example oFa photographic convention which must be learned. Using Peirce's semiotic framework. Wright posits that the photograph overlaps the icon and index categories. This. Wright argues. points to the unworkable nature of the realism-conventionalism dichotomy.
Instead we can propose a theory of 'natural correspondences' between the photograph and the perceived environment which operates in conjunction with pictorial conventions. Many such conventions emanate from the properties of photography itself. In photography. as with other systems of representation. pictorial correspondences and conventions do not oppose each other but act together to form such a system. (p.27)
John Tagg (1988) agrees that the photograph is an index. but argues that the causal link between photograph and referent is complex and "can guarantee nothing at the level of meaning"
(p.3). Noting the realist position articulated by Barthes, Tagg counters with the assertion, "I need
Chapter 2 .4 Crirical Consideration page 2 - not point out. of course. that the existence of a photograph is no guarantee of a conesponding pre-photographic existent" (p.2). Responding to Barthes's discussion of the deliberately manipulated photograph;, Tagg refutes the idea this is "...a special case: a case of manipulation of otherwise truthful photographic elements" (p.2). Tagg maintains.
We have to see that every photograph is the result of specific and. in every sense. signiticant distortions which render its relation to any prior reality deeply problematic.....A t every stage. chance effects. purposeful interventions. choices and variations produce meaning ...This is not the inflection of a prior (though irretrievable) reality. as Banhrs would have us believe. but the production of a new and specific reality. (pp.2-3)
Thus the photograph. according to Tagg, far from being a miniaturized analogue. is 'a. new and specific reality' with an uncertain. dubious. and complex resemblance to the world. Tagg
beoes farther. claiming that not only photographs but also esperiences are perceived and given meaning through cultural. psychological. perceptual. conscious and unconscious codes which art: dependant on historical and temporary structures such as languages. "Neither experience nor reality can be separated from the languages. representations. psychological structures and practices in which they are articulated and which they disrupt" (p.4).
Photographs clearly have a physical connection to the reality that they depict: the photographic process relies on chemically enhanced light patterns to forn~the image.
Nevertheless as this review of the discourse on photography and linguistics makes evident. reality is inevitably, inescapably. and ineluctably altered through the picture-making process.
Whatever additional distortions may occur. the real and specific subjects and circumstances represented in a photograph are necessarily miniaturized. flattened, and fixed. rendering the
' Barthes' example was a 1% 1 faked photograph, used to discredit an American senator. depicting the senator apparently in intimate conversation with a Communist leader.
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 28 similarity between the representation and the reality uncertain. The degree and extent of alteration is open to question. but the fact of alteration is not. The discussion among linguists and cultural theorists suggests that the value of the photographic image lies not in its ability to offer evidence of an -irretrievable reality'. but as Tagg suggests. the articulation of a perceived meaning.
The Postmodern Critique
The position argued by Tagg (and others. see Sekula. 197511985, Burgin. 1983. Bolton.
1989. and Trachtenberg, 1991) draws on a postmodem critical context which has been int'ormed by extra-photographic sources such as literary and art criticism. social and cultural history. political activism. semiotics. feminism. and psychology. Michrl Foucault's analysis ( 1977) uf the role of power in the construction of knowledge. Jacques Denida's characterization ( 1978 uf history and culture as unstable and ever-changing texts which are shaped by an understanding of reality that is mediated by language. and the writings of other poststructuralist. postmodem critics have had major impact on the photographic discourse. One result of this impact is that writings on photography are no longer isolated from the mainstream of critical and historical analysis. Pointing to the socially constructed nature of labels and categories which are produced under conditions of power relations, the postmodem position expresses scepticism in absolute values. universalizing statements, claims of objectivity. and beliefs in abstractions.
These arguments by themselves are not new4. but the theoretical framework is. Working
For example. Walter Benjamin wrote in 1936: "The rigid, isolated object (work. novel. book) is of no use whatsoever. It must be inserted into the context of living social relations" (Reprinted in ntinking Photography, 1982, p. 17).
Chapter 2 ,-ICritical Consideration page 29 within a multi-disciplined framework, many current photographic critics strive to develop. clarify. and strengthen theoretical connections between photographic discourse and the social and
political arena. Richard Bolton (1 989) argues that.
Meaning is ... established through interpretive conventions that exist outside of the image - conventions that are socially and institutionally constructed and that serve an ideological function. These conventions are often self-effacing. helping to naturalize a system of beliefs. To understand the workings of ideology. these claims to nature must be taken apart, their historical and social dimensions revealed. (p.xii)
Alan Trachtenberg (199 1) claims that the central theme of photographic discourse (which
he identities as the medium's search for identity) experienced a major shift in the 1970s. The
new critics are less concerned. he says. with what the medium is and more focused on what the
medium does. in particular. "the cultural and ideological work it performs within specific conditions and circumstances" (p.3). John Tagg (1988) argues that these conditions and circumstances are determined by "definite techniques and procedures. concrete institutions. nnd specific social relations - that is. relations of power" (pp.4-5). This perspective is shared by
Richard Bolton ( 1989): "Photographic truth is considered as a function of instrumentality. The analysis of photographic truth thus leads to an analysis of power." (p.xvi). The role of the
interpreter in the creation of meaning has come under scrutiny at the same time that the focus has shifted away from the photographic art object to the complex system of cultural production and consumption and the social and historic conditions under which the photograph is produced and experienced.
This investigation of the relationship between photography and reality suggests that the cultural, social, and historical conditions in which images are produced and experienced are significant to the meaning associated with the images. In order to explore the potential of the
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 30 Digby County photographs for social analysis. we will need to consider the cultural and
ideological Functions of visual anthropology and social documentary photography. the two
traditions most closely associated with these images.
3. The Visual Anthropology Tradition
Ideological and Discursive Conditions of Early Photography
Photography is usually considered to have begun in 1839. preceded by an extended period
of frustrated attempts and partial successes. and followed by an even longer period of
technological adjustments and aesthetic adaptations. The historic conditions that allowed
photography to come into existence are explored by Mary Warner Marien ( 199 1 ) in her essay
"Toward a New Prehistory of Photography". Marien challenges the popular explanation of the development of photography as a fortuitous discovery of the combined effect of the physical
properties of the cc~mrruobsc8~o.cr (an optical device which had been used as a mechanical drawing aid For many centuries) and the chemical properties of certain light-sensitive silver compounds which. when used in conjunction with silver-dissolving chemicals. allow a reflection
to be fixed and reproduced. Marien reports various hypotheses of the ideological and discursive conditions necessary tbr the medium's development including Peter Galassi's 198 1 citing of the
formation of a monied middle class with the self-interest and the means to buy multiple images. as well as the spirit of realism formulated within what Marien calls "the increasingly material culture of industrialism" (Marien. 199 1. p.25). Susan Sontag ( 1973) cites Feuerbach' s 18 43 lament that the essence of the modem period is the demand to produce and the ability to devour endless images (p. 1 53). Walter Benjamin ( lW6/ 1986) analyses cultural changes in terms of
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 3 1 changes in the modes of production in his classic 1936 essay "The Work of Art in the Age of
Mechanical Reproduction". For Benjamin it is the reproducibility of photography that is the significant characteristic of the medium: "That which withers in the age of mechanical
reproduction is the aura of the work of art...The technique of reproduction detaches the
reproduced object fiom the domain of tradition" (p.30). In Benjamin's terms. the unique and
precious art object is necessarily a privileged possession. while the reproducible photograph has a widened field of interpreters and offers a potential ideological tool in the historic push for democracy. Allan Sekula (19791982) agrees b~:?points out that the Paris police demonstrated the counter-revolutionary possibilities as they "appropriated photography as an instrument of class war when they documented the faces of the survivors of the [Paris] Commune uf 187 1 "
John Tagg ( 1988) argues that the significance of photography is that the process developed at a time when the emergence of a bureaucracy of disciplinary institutions synchronized with an ideology for using scientific methods to measure. categorize. and record data about human appearance and human behaviour. In Tagg's view. this created the conditions where photographs could develop a privileged claim as a vehicle for truth. Photography "was endowed with power because it suited the needs of an expanded stateJ' (Pinney. 1 992. p.9 1 ).
The coupling of evidence and photography in the second half of the nineteenth century was bound up with the emergence of new institutions and new practices of observation and record-keeping: that is. those new techniques of representation and regulation which were so centrai to the restructuring of the local and national state in industrialised societies at that time and to the development of a network of disciplinary institutions - the police. prisons. asylums, hospitals, departments of public health. schools. and even the modem factory system itself. (Tagg, 1988, p.5)
Tagg claims that these new techniques of observation and record-keeping led to the still
Chapter 2 rl Critical Consideration page 32 prevalent phenomenological connection between photography and truth. but. more significantly. he argues that they transformed social relations.
They enabled, at a time of rapid social change and instability, an unprecedented extension and integration of social administration. amounting ... to a new strategy of governance ... The development of new regulatory and disciplinary apparatuses was closely linked. throughout the nineteenth century, to the formation of new social and anthropologica1 sciences... What characterised the regime in which photographic evidence emerged. therefore. was a complex administrative and discursive restructuring. turning on a social division between the power and privilege of producing and possessing and the burden of being meaning. (pp.5-6)
Tagg uses Michel Foucault's analysis which contends that the modern disciplinary power employs isolation. individuation. and supervision (Foucault. 1977. pp. 195-128). Using the metaphor of Jeremy Bentham's 1787 Panopticon. a hypothetical architectural structure for maintaining social order within prisons. factories. workhouses. asylums. and schools. Foucault examines power relations in modem society. In Foucault's words. the prisoner (or patient or student or factory worker) "...is seen. but he does not see: he is the object of information. never o subject in communication" (p.200). For a disciplinary power to be effective. it must be visible
(that is. the prisoner must always be aware of its presence). unverifiable (the prisoner must never know when he is watched). and anonymous (the prisoner must not know who is watching him).
Tagg postulates that photography has become the dominant device for enabling domination. with visual representation replacing confinement. Sekula (1989). while generally in agreement with
Tagg 's Foucaultian approach to photography. asserts that representation is but one of "the multiplicity of material devices involved" (p.38 1) in the process of discipline and domination.
Sekula also suggests that photography may be more open to multiplicity and resistance than
Tagg, who "subsumes all documentary within the paradigm of the Panopticon" (Ibid.. p.385). allows.
Chapter 2 A Critical Cansideration page 33 The unique features of photography which allow endless reproducibility. unseen
observation. and visual documentation result in conditions where the medium has the potential to
ideologically serve either progressive or reactionary forces, for democratic resistance on one
hand and oppressive domination on the other. Despite this potential. the use of photography by
counter-revolution agents has formed a significant part of its development.
The Colonizing Eye
Tagg is particularly interested in the role played by documentary photography in the
second half of the 19th century in constructing (and maintaining) the social division between
those with the power to possess 'meaning' and those with the burden to be 'meaning' (or. to
place the polarity in terms of the camera. those who photograph and those who are
photographed). This period was. of course. also marked by colonial conquest and the
consolidation of territories on a worldwide scale. bringing Europeans into contact with non-
Europeans in unprecedented numbers. There developed a wide-ranging set of assumptions about
the superiority of Europeans and the rights that this presumed superiority bestowed. as well as an
increasing dominance of ideas that placed a high value on technological and scientific
achievement. This created a climate in which Europeans and their New World descendants could
assert their assumed superiority and justify this political position with scientific (and pseudo-
scientific) explanations. The power relations of the colonial situation consisted of a network of overt oppression and insidious. unequal relationships permeating all facets of cultural confrontation.
Elizabeth Edwards (1 992) argues that anthropological photography is deeply implicated in
Chapter 2 =I Critical Consideration page 34 the experience of imperialism in a variety of direct ways (such as land surveys. engineering schemes, cultural inventories. and anthropometric measurement practices) as well as indirect ways relating to the construction of knowledge categories. Edwards points out that by the end of the 19th century most anthropologists made extensive use of the camera. However. Pinnry
( 1992) maintains that this usage was not entirely uncontested and not always uncritical.
According to Pimey, many anthropologists-photographers suffered "moments of unease" with interpretive difficulties. Pimey tracks what he calls "the second history of photography and anthropologyJ' in which "photography has not been able to validate its claims to truth" and indeed has demonstrated "a lack of confidence in itself at every turn" (p.82). This lack of confidence is expressed in a variety of ways that include uncertainty over photography's status as icon or index. attempts to undermine its single-voiced authority by juxtaposing it with opposing information sources. and questions about technical issues (such as exposure and printing practices) that challenge its accuracy.
Scherer ( 1992) points out that photography. which was widely viewed in the early days of anthropology as a "simple truth-revealing mechanism" (Edwards. 1992. p.4). was a by-product of the European technological revolution. occumng during, a period which favoured scientific facts. invention. and utilitarianism. The encompassing intellectual model during the period was rvolutionisrn. Non-European races were seen as representing the childhood of mankind. a phase through which Europeans had passed in a linear progression towards a civilized state. Brian
Street ( 1 992) examines how exhibitions (including exhibits of living mem bes of other societies). photographs. and postcards were used at the turn of the century to reinforce among the British public confidence in their own superiority. Images depicting exotic places and people were
-- Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 35 readily available and were largely accepted as real and factual.
Rochelle Kolodny (1 978) has developed a framework for analysing anthropological
photography using three interconnecting aesthetic-cultural models: realism. documentary. and
primitivism5. Each model is seen to have underlying assumptions. an ideological basis. a cultural
framework. and social-political functions. Thus. according to Kolodny. the primitive (or
romantic) model operates within an artistic framework. is upheld by an ideology of redemptive
idealism. and is motivated by a search for purity. simplicity. and ahistorical universalism: the
realistic model is based within a positivist. empirical paradigm. seeks information identified as
factual. and serves a 'surrogate reality' function: and. the documerltary model is positioned
within the world of progressive action. offers social comment. and functions as a social
engineering tool. All three models are used to mediate between those who belong to the society
of the photographer and those who are categorized as "other". Kolodny argues that the camera is
a tool of the large. powerful. and conquering societies and most frequently takes as its subjects
those who live in less powerful foreign countries and those who occupy less powerful strata
inside the photographers' own country because these groups are most vulnerable to aesthetic
transformation. Echoing Sontag's claim (1973) that photography is appropriation. Kolodny
argues that anthropological imagery reflects the needs and attitudes of the viewer rather than the
qualities of the subjects. Photography, being mobile. reproducible. and accessible. played a
significant role in the process by which non-Western peoples have become part of the aesthetic
domain.
' As Edwards (1992) indicates. Peterson (1985) has argued that the term 'primitivism' tends to reinforce ethnocentric views and suggests 'romanticism'.
Chapter 2 R Critical Considerarion page 36 Iskander Mydin (1992) notes that 19th century anthropologists, encountering peoples who were in the process of being transformed through the impact of social change brought on by contact with Western culture. typically chose representationsb that depicted the non-Western cultures in a pre-contact state. Mydin summarizes the primary themes of photographs used for anthropological purposes as responses to Western needs: the need to prove evolutionaq concepts. the need to meet the visual exotic market (including depictions with sexual content which had a high consumption rate), and the need to establish photography as a scientific methodology and anthropology as a viable discipline.
Stephen Say Gould (1 98 1) describes the scientific and academic discourse in the 19th century and the role played by scientists in propagating explanations of racial ranking. (such as polygmy. the idea that human races constitute separate biological species. and degenerationism. the idea that human races are a product of degeneration from Eden's lily-white perfection and that the races reflect the degree of decline). as well as the ideology of biological determinism. that is. the view that biology (including gender. ethnicity. and mce) determines social and intellectual development. Gould is particularly intrigued by the way scientists were able to establish 'scientific proof for a priori racist assumptions that have since been discounted as fallacious. Elizabeth Edwards ( 1990) and Rosalyn Poignant ( 19%) examine the use of photographs in the 19th century discourse around the physiognomy of 'racial types'. This discourse provided the justification for domination. exploitation. and the% of resources that was an essential part of 19th century imperialism.
6 Not infrequently these representations contain inaccurate details. For examples, see Brian Dippie. 1992, and Joanna Cohan Scherer, 1975.
------Chapter 2 =I Critical Consideration page 3 7 The Modern Gaze
The cultural assumptions of racial. cultural. and moral superiority established through visual anthropology became thoroughly absorbed and perpetuated by European social and political structures and have continued to play a role in colonial relationships as well as in intellectual and popular discourse. Lutz and Collins's examination (1 993) of the AJi~riond
Geographic magazine explores the way that this popular American journal (founded in 1888) depicts the world outside American borders to its estimated worldwide readership of 57 million people (p.2). According to the authors. the magazine acknowledges universal values and celebrates diversity while simultaneously reinforcing the self-serving and erroneous perception that non-Western peoples are at an earlier stage of progress.
In their article "The Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes: The Example of ,Vrrriuncrl
Grogrupphic" (1991/1994), Lutz and Collins examine the role of the gaze as an indicator of power relations within AJntional Geogrlrphic. Using the analyses of Mulvey ( 1 9Wl985) and Brrgrr
(1 972) which position the spectator as male within the social context of patriarchy. and the critiques of de Lauretis ( 1987) and Gaines ( 1988) which argue that race and class are also factors in the determination of 'looking' relations. Lutz and Collins explore the "lines of sight" in
Nirtiond Geographic photographs. Their gaze research reveals a complex hierarchy determined by race. class. and gender and indicated by signifiers such as clothing. skin colour. posture. and behaviour. "The more civilized quality imparted to the lighter skinned male in Western dress ...is only a relative quality. Full civilization still belongs, ideologically. to the Euro-American" (Lutz
& Collins. 1994, p.371). Lutz and Collins (199111994) identify several critical themes around
' looking relations' in their reading of National Geographic photographs. including the
Chapter 2 .4 Critical Consideration page 38 suggestion that self-awareness and self-reflection is dependent on Western contact and Western technology (pp.375-380). Their work suggests that photography continues to be implicated in inequitable power relations globally through visual anthropoiogy practices.
4. The Social Documentary Tradition
Origins of the Ducumentary
Documentary photography is based on the assumption that the photograph has the capacity to be an authentic representation of reality. a record of objective truth: the social documentary tradition is built on this assumption and is particularly associated with social reform. Despite this association. the broad and tlexible category of social documentary photography which tlourished in the reformist climate of early-to-mid 20th century North America. has roots in the surveillance practices of the bureaucratic institutions developing the 19th century - prisons. asylums. hospitals. factories. and schools. According to John Tagg ( 1988). police forces throughout Britain began using civilian photographers in the 1840s to produce photographic records of prisoners. The numbers of specialized police photographers increased enormously after the 190 1 development of an identification system for fingerprints. since the only practical way to record fingerprints found at the scene of criminal activities was to photograph them.
Allan SckuIa ( 1989) describes two separate photographic systems used by police in the late 19th century. The Bertillon method. which was designed to flag the habitual criminal. combined photographic portraiture, anthropometric description. and standardized written notes. while the
Galton method. which was based on the eugenics movement (which sought ways to improve the human stock through the control of hereditary facton) and was intended to provide a theoretical
Chapter 2 A Critical Considerarion page 39 framework for law enforcement, used photographs to construct a composite portraiture of the
'criminal type'.
Dr. Thomas Barnardo. the famed child welfare reformer. employed a photographer and assistant to work at his Home for Destitute Lads in East London. Between 1874 and 1905 the
Barnardo staff photographer produced 55.000 images, most of which were before-and-after pictures of the children, used for record-keeping and fund-raising purposes but also surveillance.
According to Bamardo papers. the photographs would:
...make the recognition easy of boys and girls guilty of criminal acts. such as theft. burglary or arson. and who may. under fdse pretenses. gain admission to our Homes. Many such instances have occurred in which the possession of these photographs has enabled us to communicate with the police. or with Former employers. and thus led to the discovery of offenders. (Quoted by Tagg. 1988. p.83)
The medical professions also quickly found uses for the photographic process. In 1856.
Dr. Hugh Diamond. founder member of the Royal Photographic Society as well as superintendent of the Surrey County Lunatic Asylum. wrote about the practical applications of photography in the treatment and supervision of psychiatric patients (Tagg. 1988. p.77). As
Nancy Ann Roth (1991) reports. Duchenne de Boulogne published in 1862 a textbook on physiology. iWecmisrne de la Ph~vsionomieHzrrnuine. which included 7 1 photographs meant to demonstrate the muscles used in human facial expression. Using six subjects and studio portrait conventions. Ducheme photographed his subjects (who included children and a mentally handicapped man) as they responded to electrical stimuli. Charles Danvin. impressed by
Duchenne's work. used images taken by Oscar Rejlander in his 1872 study of facial expressions.
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.
The urbanization of North America which occurred primarily in the late 19th century as
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration puge 40 Peter Hales ( 1984) describes in Silver Cities: The Photography of American Urbanizution, 183 9-
1915. Further inspired the development of the documentary tradition as the usefulness of a photographic record of sewer construction. slum clearances, and the erection of public buildings became apparent. Shelley Rice (199 1) examines the photographic documentation of an urban renewal project in Paris during the 1850s. John Tagg ( 1988) analyses the role played by photography in a 1890 slum clearance which followed several outbreaks of typhoid in Quarry
Hill. an area in the British city of Lerds. pointing out that the residents were not consulted and that by 1900 only 198 of the 4.000 inhabitants had been provided with alternative accommodations (p. 1 3 7).
The social documentary tradition is distinguished from its documentary origins because of a perceived connection to social reform. The genre has come to represent photographic imagery with clear social content and articulated (though not always focused) political purpose. Maren
Stange ( 199 1) suggests that. until the advent of television. it was the main visual representational tool for organizing and presenting topical social issues to the public with immediacy. The underlying assumption of documentary photography is that the camen can be used to depict reality accurately, to reveal obscured or hidden experiences and events. and to communicate this reality to others. The role that has been assigned to documentary photography has become conventionalized as the primary mode of expression for the social conscience of a liberal sensibility, as indicated by the genre's numerous categorizing designations. such as photography in pursuit of political change. social reform photography. photography with a conscience. and social photography. While these designations would appear to suggest that the essential function of documentary photography is as an instrument of change, Martha Rosler ( 198 1) argues that the
-- Chapter 2 A Critical Considerarion page JI use of loose designations tends to work against the possibility of radical change, by blurring the multiple political functions of photographers (including the political functions of non- documentary photographers whose ideological content and impact is generally unstated and unacknowledged). Rosler claims that.
In the United States. where positions on the political spectrum are usually not named and where photographers and other artists have only rarely and sporadically declared their alignment within social practice, the blurring amounts to a tactic. (p.83.)
Rosler argues that this obfuscating tactic intensified during the Cold War period which Followed the period considered the pinnacle of social documentary photography. the 1930s and 1940s.
It became socially mandatory for artists to disaffiliate themselves from Society (meaning social negativity) in favour of Art: in the postwar era one finds documentarians locating themselves. actively or passively. as privatists (Dorothea Lange). aestheticians (Walker Evans. Helen Levitt). scientists (Berenice Abbott). surrealists (Hrnri Cartier-Bresson ). social historians (just about everyone. but especially photo journalists like A1 tied Eisenstadt). and just plain 'lovers of life' (Arthur Rothstein). The nonsensical designation 'concerned photography' latterly appears. signifying the weakest possible idea of (substitute for) social engagement. namely compcrssion. of whom perhaps the war photographers David Douglas Duncan. Donald McCullin. and W. Eugene Smith provide the best examples. (p.83)
Despite the reputation held by the social documentary tradition as an agent for social reform. its roots in surveillance and the confused political stance of its practitioners has tended to undercut the genre's potential to challenge the dominant ideology.
Jacob Wis and The Other Half
While social documentary photography has strong associations with the Depression years. most mainstream photography historians begin their review of the genre with Jacob Riis. a
Danish-born police reporter for The New York Tribune. who drew public attention at the end of the 19th century to the wretched living conditions of immigrants occupying New Yorli City's
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 42 teeming tenement buildings. Beginning in 1887 Riis gave lectures on social problems which
were illustrated with lantern slides, comprised of his own images as well as police mug shots and
charity records. These lectures led to newspaper and magazine articles and a series of popular
books. of which the best known is the first - How the Other Half'Lives: Sttidies among rhr
Tenements ofNew York (first published in 1890 and subsequently republished in 1971 in an
edition that includes Riis's photographs. using halftone technology not available for the earlier edition). Many of the images were made at night using primitive tlash equipment: they depict
menacing men loafing in crowded back alleys. disoriented women in police station lodging
houses. and unprotected children sleeping on heating grates. Maren Stange ( 1989) argues that
Riis's lectures tit within a conventional rhetorical framework which depicts the reformist tigure
(a category which includes both photographer and audience) as honourable and compassionate. and the subjects (whose representations fit the age/gender/class-appropriate stereotypes of
threatening men. slatternly women. and neglected children) as pathetic and needy. "The
photographs Riis presented came to symbolize for audiences a public statement of class sensibility. solidarity. and moralityJ' (Stange. 1989. p.2).
According to Stange. Riis's autobiography. which chronicles his experiences as a poor
immigrant working as a day labourer. coal miner. and hired hand. and his observations on labour disputes during the 1870s. a period of mounting, and sometimes violent. tension between labour and capital. reveals how he "recoiled from workers and working class culture. especiaily when he saw that culture's potential for solidarity in opposition to the individualist and entrepreneurial values of the middle class" (p.4). The attention that Riis's work called to the crime and poverty in the tenements led directly to the bull-dozing of one of New York's worst areas. Mulberry
Chapter 2 A Crilical Consideration page 43 Bend. which ultimately became the site of the Jacob Riis Park.
A critique of these events might argue that Riis misread the problem (which was surely poverty and exploitation rather than inadequate physical structures), misidentified the solution
(which was likely the creation of good quality, low-income. occupant-ownedloccupant- controlkd housing rather than the removal of the slums). and misunderstood the process of change (in which a personal crusade undertaken without careful analysis can mean personal recognition for the crusader but few political advances for the cause). Stange ( 1989) argues otherwise. She maintains that Riis accurately read his propertied. middle class audience. By proposing a charitable response to the excesses of the unplanned. uncontrolled rental market. Riis
...was proposing in essence that conscientious personal philanthropy might function both as good public relations and as self-improvement. reaffirming the benignity of middlc- class values. and of wealth itself. even as the respectable classes girded themselves anew against the threat breeding in the slums.... Riis's solution in no way challenged capitalist social and economic relations ...[ It] affirmed the centrality and social worth of traditional individualist and entrepreneurial values even as it specified a new class duty. (p.5)
Riis's instincts. Stange argues. were unerring. both in terms of the content of his lecture. his avuncular delivery (which included entertaining anecdotes). and his framing of the issue.
According to Stange. Riis's
... anecdotes imposed a reassuring order on content whose 'crime and misery' might otherwise overwhelm. They also confirmed the privileged position of the viewer by implying that he or she had a right to be entertained by an encounter with such material ...Riis's actual physical presence as mediator between the audience and the photographs virtually embodied the overseeing 'master' narrator familiar to readers of realist literature ...dismissing any possibility that the photograph itself might offer an alternative. or even oppositional. meaning to his. ...Riis's blunt title [HOWthe Orher Hal/' Lives], framing his content as "the other half'. simultaneously designated his audience as 'this half, thus assigning to them a relation to the proceedings that offered an attractively secure and collective point of view from which to survey the show. (pp. 13-14)
While Jacob Riis is the prime example used by photography historians to discuss early
Chapter 2 ..I Critical Consideration page 44 social documentary photographers, there are. of course. many others. Thomas Annan
photographed Glasgow between 1867 and 1877 for the Glasgow City Improvement Trust.
publishing The Old Chesmd Streets of Glusgow (Gernsheim. 196%Tagg, 1 988). the first commissioned work of its kind. Arthur Munby7 bought and commissioned at least 600
photographs of working women (manual labourers, mine workers. and servants) in Victorian
England (Hiley. 1979: and Hudson. 1972). John Thornson's photographs of London slums
appeared in Adolphe Smith's 1877 Street Life in London (Gemsheim. 1965). Willoughby
Wallace Hooper photographed the victims of the 1867 Madras famine in India. The siwolumc
Pitfsbwgh Survey ( 1908- 19 14) depicting the labour and living conditions among the working
class was illustrated with photographs by Lewis Hine. Hine also photographed child labour
conditions during various campaigns for protective labour legislation.
Martha Roster (198 1) argues that the essential flaw with the social documentary approach
which sought "the rectification of wrongsJ' is that.
It did not perceive those wrongs as fundamental to the social system that tolerated them - the assumption that they were tolerated rather than bred marks a basic fallacy of social work. Reformers like Riis ...strongly appealed to the worry that the ravages of poverty - crime. immorality. prostitution. disease. radicalism - would threaten the health and security of polite society ... their appeals were often meant to awaken the self-interest of the privileged. The notion of chnrity fiercely argued for far outweighs any call for self-help. Charity is an argument for the preservation of wealth. (p.72)
Jacob Riis and other social documentary photographers provide helpful examples of the
' Munby's collection was likely motivated more by psychological and scopophilic obsessions than by a desire to enact social change. The collection was never viewed publicly by a contemporary audience. Nevertheless the images were used as the basis for forming a political position which was indeed a public one. Claiming to champion women's rights to dress and employment freedoms, Munby opposed protective legislation for women labourers, writing letters to several newspapers and speaking before the Select Committee on Mines (Hiley, 1979, pp.48-60).
Chapter 2 .J Critical Consideration puge 45 complex and multiple ideological fhctions of social reform movements, which primarily serve to curb. but not eliminate, excesses in social exploitation and to keep abuses within tolerable limits.
Lewis Hine: Photographing Heroes
Maren Stange (199 1) argues that The Pittsbrirgh Swveu marks the beginning of a significant change in social documentary photography. The Pittsbwyh Swvey. under the general direction of Paul Kellogg and photographed by Lewis Hine. was an ambitious report on the social conditions within Pittsburgh. intended to influence corporate and government policy making. Its contribution to the social reform movement was its replacement of the rhetoric of moralism with the rhetoric of progress. Moreover. as the framework shifted from morality to sociology and economics. the social documentary approach changed from surveillance to sympathy. This shift is sometimes represented by noting that Riis was a police reporter while
Hine was a sociologist. Tagg ( 1 988). however. disagrees with this distinction: both Ri is and
Hine. as photographers, were obliged to function within the discourse of power. From a Marxist perspective. Hine's view of poverty and exploitation is "paternalistic and reformistJ' (Tagg. 1988. p. 193). and his concept of an improved world was a utopian one with no basis in the social realities. Nevertheless, Tagg argues that Hine's contribution to social documentary photography is his representation of the working class as skilled and strong, using "an elaborate pictorial code of heroism" which reflected "a humanistic and sentimental view of skilled working people"
(pp. 196- 197). This 'pictorial code of heroism' has become one of the identifying features of social documentary photography.
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 46 Stange posits that the social documentary consists of four separate elements: the realistic photograph, the caption, accompanying written and graphic text. and the image's presenting agency. She argues that Lewis Hine advanced the social documentary tradition by the tfkctivc usage of these elements. Experimenting with montage and poster format. Hine rarely displayed his photographs alone. They were presented within a frame involving a complicated and dialectical relation between image. caption. text. and lay-out. By establishing contradictions and complexity, Stange claims, Hine prodded the viewer to think more deeply about the meaning of reform. Stange describes in detail an example which appeared in Volume I of The Piftsbwgh
S~rrvey.CVomen and the Trades (Elizabeth Beardsley Butler. 1909). The photograph depicts a woman with a pleasant and capable expression. fresh clothes and neat hair. who appears to be concentrating on a clerical task. The caption. Head oj'rh~Checkroom. connotes technical and social expertise. competence rewarded with a job title that suggests authority within a laundry checkroom. The text. however. conveys a very different message:
Women have now wholly displaced men in fifteen out of twenty-six laundries. md partially displaced men in five others. The reason for this is not. as we have seen. that women have proved quicker or more accurate. The reason is financial: women are cheap. From the South Side to the East End you hear it said that "you can get two women where you got one man; get twice as much work done. and done just as well". (Quoted by Stange. p.8 1. from Butler. 1909. pp. 190- 19 1)
What is revealed through the text is that the photograph. far from depicting competence rewarded, shows a variation of exploitation: "despite her brave show. her title. and her generous attention to her work" (Stange, 1989, p.81), the head of the checkroom is underpaid. Stange claims that.
Hine's documentary offers itself neither as narrative entertainment nor as a map of reform ideology; rather, it proposes a means to connect with. to imagine and respond to. the actual processes of social change. (1989, p.83)
Chapter t A Critical Consideration page 4 7 Two frequently quoted epigrams suggest Lewis Hine's most important legacy to the social
documentary tradition: "While photographs may not lie. liars may photograph" (from Hine's
1909 speech at the National Conference of Charities and Corrections, reprinted in Trachtenberg.
1980. p. 1 1 1); and, "I wanted to show the things that had to be corrected. I wanted to show the
things that had to be appreciatedJ'(quoted in Ston. 1973. p.3 1). Hine's recognition of the
importance of the photographer's intention and his respect for "the things that had to be
appreciated" represent significant and lasting innovations to social documentary photography.
His legacy includes an awareness of extra-photographic information in shaping the interpretation.
an approach which emphasizes self-critical evaluation and collaboration. and. most clearly. the
now-familiar visual codes of social documentary photography which include references to
classical themes in painting, formalist composition. and the recording of small details of ordinary
life. Hine's influence on the subsequent development of documentary photography is significant.
particularly evident in the work of the Farm Security Administration photographers who
followcd him.
'Authentic' Photography During The Economic Crisis
The social and political function of photography shifted during the economic crisis of the
1930s. During this period the genre of documentary photography reinforced its developing conventions and fortified its claim as a vehicle for truthful. authentic representation of reality.
The Depression created conditions where documentary photography was given the mandate to convince a broad audience within North America of the need for a new social and economic consensus, one based on greater government regulatory involvement. John Tagg ( 1988) terms
-- - Chapter 2 .-ICritid Consideration puge 48 the resulting change in the function of photography as a shift from a strategy of control to a strategy of representation. The sensation of empathy becomes stronger than the sensation of distance; the purpose of communication outweighs the purpose of measuring and calculating.
The photographer becomes a stand-in not for the neutral though absent 'man' of science or the progressi-ie. enlightened economist. but for the feeling 'ordinary' viewer. whose perspective. values, and knowledge are presumed to be the same as the photographer's perspective. values. and knowledge. An identification is presumed to exist between the photographer and the viewer.
During this period the camera becomes a metaphor for honest representation. Christopher
Ishenvood ( 1939) portrays this view in his Berlin Diary.
I am a camera with its shutter open. quite passive. recording. not thinking. Recording the man shaving at the window opposite and the woman in the kimono washing her hair. Some day. all this will have to be developed. carefully printed. tixed. (p. 13)
William Stott (1973) argues that the emphasis on the camera as witness is the distinguishing feature of social documentary photography in the 1930s (as first-person accounts were for journalism. and testimonials were for advertisements). citing the contemporary popularity of Walt Whitman: "I am the man. I suffer'd. I was there" (quoted by Ston. 1973. p.36).
In the face of a rapidly changing world. experience had more value than tradition. realism more currency than romance. Ston reiterates Arthur Rothstein's statement. "The lens of the camera is. in effect. the eye of the person looking at the print" (p.29), which recalls the previously discussed eye-camera analogy analysed by Terence Wright (1992). Stoa claims that the rhetoric of social documentary photography collapses the identities of the viewers into the identity of the photographer: "The two being interchangeable, the person looking at the print is. in effect. present when the shutter snapped." (1973, p.29). The only perceived difference of significance
- -. . . -. . . . . Chaprert rlCritica1Consideration page 49 between viewer and photographer is location - the photographer is physically present.
Differences in gender. race. class. sexual orientation. or political perspective are obscured by a
presumed commonality.
Stott (1973) and Pucken (1984) describe the technological advances that allowed social
documentary photography to become the vehicle of mass communication in the 1930s: the
halftone screen process (which was invented in the 1890s but not widely used until &er 19 10).
roll cameras (particularly the Leica 35rnrn camera which was invented in 1928) accompanied b\.
faster lenses. faster f lms. and the flash bulb (invented in 1930). and the better printing presses.
faster-drying inks. and high quality paper. which led to picture magazines beginning in Germany
after the end of World War I and appearing in the United States as Fornrne (founded in 1930).
LiJi ( 1936). and Look ( 19373. and many short-lived imitators. Click, Foc~rs.Picture. and See.
The Farm Security Administration project. operating between 1935 and 1943 under the
direction of Roy Stryker. hired a fluctuating group of photographers8 to popularize New Deal
legislation. ultimately acquiring more than 107.000 images9. The project was moved to three
separate government agencies during its eight-year life: the Resettlement Agency (RA) in 1935.
the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in 1937. and the Office of War information (OWI) in
1942. While the overall ideological function was liberal and reformist (as might be expected of a
government agency), its appeal lies unexpectedly in "the urgently humanitarian rhetoric of its
images" (Stange. i 989, p. 106). William Stott argues that the representation of the American
The FSA-OWI editors identify 44 photographers within "the Stryker opus". but they indicate that of these, 16 made the most extensive contribution (Fleischhauer & Brannan, 1988, p.337).
9 This number includes 30,000 photographs collected from other sources (Fleischhauer & Brannan. 1988, pvii).
Chupter 2 .4 Critical Consideration page 50 poor in the FSA imagery is, essentially. one of poignancy. suggesting that the underlying
narrative establishes an identity of self-sufficiency and resiliency for the viewer. but not for the
subject. The overarching goal of the imagery was to justify New Deal legislation by establishing
a strong case that it was needed.
Stange points out that the Farm Security Project was faced with the task of masking the
contradictions in the government's agricultural policies. given its simultaneous commitments to
rural modernization and to protection of poor farmers despite their inefficient farms ( 1989.
p. 123 ). FSA avoided these opposing obligations by favouring emotional impact over detailed
analysis. Stange claims that.
The subjects of FSA photographs were presented to their mass audience shorn of social and cultural vigor and interest, not only by framing and composition but also by text. caption, and graphic arrangements that made of local particularities. collectivities. and attachments simultaneously examples of outmoded 'social emotions' and nostalgic evocations of a receding popular life. (pp. 1 29- 1 30)
1.7 the more than 50 years since the FSA project ended. there has been much speculation about the significance of the project. the convergence of conditions that led to the widespread
and repeated usage of the photographs. the high critical and popular acclaim they received. and
the intense meaning that they generate. John Tagg ( 1988) argues that the discourse of
documentary expression was a complex strategic response to the economic crisis in Western
Europe and North America:
It was entirely bound up with a particular social strategy: a liberal, corporatist plan to negotiate economic. political and cultural crisis through a limited programme of structure reforms, relief measures. and a cultural intervention aimed at restructuring the order of discourse. appropriating dissent. and resecuring the threatened bonds of social consent. tp.8)
Pointing out that the documentary in Britain during this period hnctioned in an
Chapter 2 A Critical Considemtion page jI oppositional mode. Tagg argues that "demand for reform [in the U.S.] was contained within the limits of monopoly capitalist relations" (p.9). Lawrence Levine ( 1988) suggests that the project helped guide the United States from a predominantly rural economy to a predominantly urban economy. Noting that the cinematic. artistic, and musical culture of the period was characterized by an "ambivalent yearning to combine the innocence and clarity of the past with the sophistication and technological complexity of the present" (p.28). Levine points out that 75% of the FSA photographs depict rural and small-town life, at a point in American history when that way of life was being largely extinguished. Several critics (Trachtenberg, 1988: Tagg. 198%:
Stange. 1989) have attributed nostalgia as one ofthe motivating factors that determined Stqkcr's choice of image and his shooting instructions to the photographers.
Levine contends that the images work within a narrative rhetoric - also apparent in the contemporary best-selling novels. The Gmpes of Wwih and Gone with rhe Wind (both of which were transmogrified to popular films) - which promotes the ideology that the individual could surmount the difficulties of the present. The emphasis is placed squarely on the resilience of the
American people. while evading the more troublesome questions of cause. blame. and inequitable shouldering of the burden of poverty. As Levine argues. the problems of poverty were not avoided, but the photographs
...failed to probe very deeply into their underlying causes and their relationship to other features of American life. If there is a predominant innocence in these photos. however. it is not that of evasion - since few other forms of expressive culture documented the failure of the American economy more graphically or immediately - but the innocence of faith, the belief that Americans had within themselves the qualities and traditions necessary to regenerate themselves and the American dream. ( 1988, p.33)
Levine quotes Roy Stryker who attributes to Russell Lee's photographs the sentiment.
'NOW here is a fellow who is having a hard time but with a little help he's going to be all right"
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page j2 (Stryker & Wood, 1973, p. 14). This was essentially the message of the FSA images: A little
help was all that was necessary. not a restructuring of capitalism. Clearly this was a comforting
message for many Americans, facing what may have appeared like (and what indeed was) a
complete collapse of the economic system. Levine argues that the iconography of FSA images
expresses a complex set of political beliefs in voluntary cooperation. self-sufficiency. a harmony
of interests. the virtues of agrarian/small-town way of life. the possibilities of peaceful.
progressive reform. and the superiority and primacy of the American Way. These beliefs have
proved to be not incompatible with monopoly capitalism.
The FSA images clearly fit the political needs of the time. but their longevity - within the
American cultural hegemony they continue to be widely recognized and fondly regarded -
suggests a powerful and adaptable sub-text. Stange discusses the 1962 retrospective exhibit of
FSA photographs. entitled "The Bitter Years 1935- 194 1 It. organized by Edward Steichen at the
Museum of Modern Art. Having already established the efficacy of "universalizing. apolitical themes" (Stange, 1989. p. 134) with his phenomenally successful "The Family of Man" exhibit of
1955. Steichen claimed that the images from "The Bitter Years" exhibit revealed "the endurance and fortitude that made the emergence from the Great Depression one of America's victorious hours" (Quoted by Stange. 1989. p. 133- 134. from Edward Steichen. ed.. 1962. p.iii).
Alan Trachtenberg (1988) argues that the cataloguing system used by the Library of
Congress reinforces the ideology of the imagery, and buttresses the view of American history that it is a universal narrative. Positing that the FSA Project hnctioned as a master narrative.
Trachtenberg analyses how the nexus of images and stories was further located within a theoretical framework by Paul Vanderbilt's filing categories:
Chapter 2 ,4 Critical Consideration page 53 The file embodies the familiar idea of history as *progress7,history ordered according to the climaxes and resolutions as well as the moral imperatives of a Judeo-Christian ethic. It is 'progressivist', essentially optimistic about solutions to conflicts and about its own universality. In its very form. its relations of headings and subheadings. its categorical progressions, the file represents diagrammatically a grand master story. a generative cultural myth: civilization begins in a relation to 'land' and proceeds to build an increasingly complex society. Deeply rooted in the national culture. this -liberal' myth remains strong, if not dominant, in many realms of American life. It views conflicts as archetypal rather than specific to social circumstances. arising from the hearts of men. from selfishness and weakness rather than from irreconcilable needs and interests of antagonistic economic groups or social classes. (p.57)
What appears to be merely the neutral system that categorizes and organizes the photographs.
Trachtenberg claims. is in fact yet another carrier of ideology, its meaning masked. like the photographs themselves. by apparent transparency.
Roy Stryker's post-FSA employer was Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. who hired him in 1943 to lead a public relations program which was designed to repair the damage done a) the company's public image by the revelation that a 1929 cartel agreement that Standard Oil had made with Germany's I.G. Farbenindustries had delayed American development of synthetic rubber and had hurt the American war effort (Stange. 1989. p. 14 I ). Stryker explained his decision to work for Standard Oil with a reference to Jacob Riis. saying his new job would help him "find out the how the other half of America lives" (p. 133). Stange contends that Stryker's career trajectory from Farm Security Administration to Standard Oil Company of New Jersey was consistent: "It does not go too far. I think. to suggest that Stryker. concerned to advance professional photojournalism. was already. at the FSA. working in corporate public relations"
(p. 108).
Multiple social functions were served by the popularity of the FSA images: they helped to negotiate changed relations between government and industry; they bolstered. in a time of great
Chapter 2 A Criticd Consideration page 34 difficulty and upheaval. a positive view of the American people as self-sufficient. resilient.
independent. and individualistic; they offered nostalgia and optimism during a period of change
and discouragement; and they reinforced a liberal narrative around national identity and
capitalism that has become deeply rooted and inherently defining.
Publication of the FSA Photographs
The FSA images were widely published in magazines throughout the United States.
appearing for the first time outside a government publication in the January and March 1%6
issues of Szrrwy Grcrphic. By the end of 1936 FSA photographs had appeared in Time. Forrlmr.
Tothy, Nrrrion P Blrsiness. Literury Digest. U,S. Cr~rnercr.and Look. as well as 23 exhibits
( including the Museum of Modem Art and the Democratic National Convention). In 1 9JO FSA
had an average picture distribution of 1 .JO6 images per month (Stange. 1 989. pp. 108- I 12). In
addition to extensive magazine and newspaper coverage. approximately twelve books illustrated
with FSA photographs had been published by 1942.
Puckett (1984) examines five of these combinations of text and documentary images
published in book format which consider the Depression theme of dispossession. Yolr Hrn~Srett
Their Faces ( 1937). a best-selling collaboration between Margaret Bourke-White. an extremely
successful photojournalist with Life magazine. and Erskine Caldwell. a Southern U.S. novelist.
depicts the life of tenant fmers - sharecropping, cotton farming, poverty. race relations. politics. and religion - and contains alternating sections of photographs (with captions) and prose. While
noting Bourke-White's photographic skill and Cddwell's powerful use of dialogue. Puckea criticizes the book's shallow treatment of the complex economic conditions. its vague and
Chapter 2 .-ICritical Consideration page 55 contradictory solutions, and its arrogant use of fictitious captions which are written as if they were the subjects' own words. While there is no disagreement with the basic idea of the book
("sharecropping is a dreadful system and must be remedied". as Pucken ironically summarizes it. p.30). he is critical of the lack of analysis. of the absence of input from those most directly involved. and of the lack of context of oppositional response to the sharecropping system. hli
Hwe See? Their Foces was. however. an immense commercial success and mcouragrd other photo-text documentaries.
Lrrntl of the Free (1938) is a book of Archibald MacLeish's poetry illustrated primarily by
FSA photographs (many of them taken by Dorothea Lange). Mourning the loss of independence which is linked to the erosion of the land. MacLeish's poem ponders questions of freedom and the relationship between the individual and the collective. Pucken argues that the original meaning of many of the photographs is distorted by cropping and by the placement of the text.
In one case. a Lmge photograph which can be read as symbolizing Black oppression is changed into a sympathetic portrait of a white plantation owner ruminating about freedom. While claiming that the result is "a flabby poem". "its language unequal to the photographs it accompanies" (Puckett. 1984. p.48). Puckett suggests that its failure is inevitable. since. "The poem generalizes. the photographs specify. and to make his corporate statement. MacLrish must distort their meaningJ' (p.60).
Richard Wright's 12 ibfillion Black Voices (1941). subtitled "A Folk History of the Negro in the United States", is a Marxist historical analysis of the major migration by Black .4mericans from the rural South to the urban North. a theme which Wright also wrote about in his novel ivaiive Son and his autobiography Black Boy. The 147 photographs were chosen by Edwin
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 56 Rosskarn, who selected most of the images from the FSA files. Wright effectively uses Marxist rhetorical devices: explaining social issues in terms of class conflict. using a collrctive narratiw voice. and Foreseeing a brighter future. The power of the book, according to Pucken. lies in
Wright's personal and emotional connection to the subject matter. although his passion and anger are too frequently restrained by abstraction. The unity between text and image is often forced. contributing to a tone of generalized insincerity.
The two remaining books reviewed by Pucken. An American E.~orlrrs.a collaboration between FSA photographer Dorothea Lange and economist Paul Taylor. and Let Us .Vow Pruisr
Frrmozis !Wen. by writer James Agee and photographer Walker Evans. are both praised by Pucketr for their honesty and clarity. .-In Arnrricm Exodus uses vernacular quotations as captions. but unlike Yell Have Seen Their Faces. the quotations are the farmers' actual words. The accompanying essays. written by Taylor. are. according to Puckett. factual and informative and suggest detailed solutions to the problems. Likewise. Lange's photographs provide specitic details about the effects of the industrialization of agriculture on the humans who are displaced.
Let Us Now Praise Famous hfen is an unconventional book in many ways. Unlike other photo-textual documentaries. Agee and Evans make no attempt to integrate words and image.
The untitled. uncaptioned photographs appear at the beginning of the book. before the title page. before the preface. before any text. The earlier photo-textual documentaries function as propaganda for reform, presenting a problem and suggesting solutions. Let Us 1Vow Praise
Famotis Men has no such intent; the approach is religious and aesthetic. While the book uses the familiar metonymic device of examining in detail the lives of three sharecropping families in order to make a larger point about sharecropping, Agee's text deliberately refuses to fit into the
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 5' easy category that other photo-textual documentaries had established. While the book has a clear
(though complex) structure, it is confusing for those who had become comfortable with the standard photojournalism approach. The text consists of several self-contained sections: a poem dedicated to Walker Evans; a reproduction of a page from a sharecropper child's geography
book; a lyrical meditation on the evening; a letter to a urban friend; a detailed inventory of the tenants' belongings; a description of a country cemetery: definitions of 'tenant' and
'sharecropper': and a reprinted article about Margaret Bourke-White written in a particularly vacuous style which reveals an insensitive side of the photographer of You Hrrw Seen Their
Frrces. According to Puckett.
.4gee designed the book not as an object of passive contemplation to be observed and evaluated, but as a medium to immerse oneself in so that one's self becomes the beating heart of it. There must be contradiction. there must be disorder. tbr the author to be true to his perceptions and for the reader to participate. ( 1984. p. 142)
Not surprisingly, the first edition of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men did not sell well
(fewer than 300 copies. according to Ston). The book has become a classic. however. showing staying power far beyond similar photodocumentaries from that period. As a document designed to observe and analyse the social problems embodied by sharecropping. Puckett suggests its contribution is unique:
Rather than analysing farm economics or discussing organizing efforts to remedy the problems of tenantry, Agee attempts to render the lives of the Gudgers, Ricketts. and Woods in such detail, with such texture, intensity and emotion that we cannot 'study' them, cannot intellectualize them, cannot number them as statistics, or label them conveniently as 'tenants', 'proletariat', 'rural poor' or any other abstraction. but must rather make their acquaintance as suffering, individual people ....Let Us Now Praise Famous Men is a book not of reform but of witness, and despite Agee's use as epigraph of the lines fromThe Communist Manifeto, the revolution which he proposes is a revolution of consciousness - an inner transformation rather than the overthrow of political institutions. (Puckett' 1984, p. 15 1)
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 58 Martha Rosler (198 1) points out that "documentary photography has been much more comfortable in the company of moralism than wedded to a rhetoric or program of revolutionary politics" (p.72). She argues that one of its chief functions is to support the familiar narrative of photographer as hero. The documentary photograph "testifies to the bravery or (dare we name. it?) the manipulativeness and savvy of the photographer. who entered a situation of physical danger. social restrictedness. human decay. or combinations of these and saved us the trouble"
(p.73). Puckett (1981) concurs. referring to an article by John P. Hussey which places Lcr Lls
.Vow Praise Fmozrs Men within an American non- fiction tradition (citing writers such as
Hawthorne. Thoreau. Twain, and Mailer) which portrays "a hero-narrator engaged in a solitary quest for spiritual andlor psychological renewal" (quoted by Puckett. 1984. p. 150).
By shifting the focus from the subject to the photographer. the discourse effectively and rffortless!y undermines the political aspect of the imagery. Rosler points to the Minamata expos6 of W. Eugene Smith and Aileen Mioko Smith. a photo and text documentary about mercury pollution in a fishing community in Japan. When the Smiths sent the material to
C~rrnera35. the magazine ran a picture of Eugene Smith on the cover. naming him 'Our Man of the Year'. As Rosier (1981) says, "The Smiths's unequivocal text argues for strong-minded activism. The magazine's framing article handles that directness; they convert the Smiths into
Smith; and they congratulate him warmly. smothering his message with appreciation" (p.74).
Rosler describes a 1978 news story about Florence Thompson. who had been photographed by
Dorothea Lange in 1936, in a renowned image titled "Migrant MotherJ'. Living in poverty on a tiny Social Security pension. Thompson is quoted as saying, "That's my picture hanging all over the world, and I can't get a penny out of it" (Rosler, 198 1, p.75).
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 59 According to Rosler, documentary photography relieves the viewer of the need to do anything about the problem; it "implores us to look in the face of deprivation and to weep (and maybe to send money. if it is to some faraway place where the innocence of childhood poverty does not set off in us the train of thought that begins with denial and ends with 'welfare cheat')"
(Rosler, 198 1. p.73). Thus the political content of the FSA and other social documentary photographs is undercut by various strategies and circumstances, ranging from the use of text that weakens the impact of the images to the absence of a supporting framework of political response.
The Worker Photography Movement
However not all documentary photography remained unwedded to a political program. as
Ollman ( 199 1) reports in her investigation of Germail worker-photographers. Representing a coalition of leftists and receiving initial impetus from the German Communist Party. the
Association of German Worker Photographers ( Vereinigztng der Arbeiter Fotograjiw
Deutschlonds) formed a collective in 1926 dedicated to combating bzrrgrrfichen Bifdllrgm
(bourgeois picture-lies). Arguing that the newly developing picture magazines in Germany presented only 'the sunny view of life'. the view that capitalist society was the best of all. the
Vereinigting der Arbeiter Fotografen Deti~schiands( VdFD)sought to show the shady side of the capitalist system. Members of the VdFD. whose political affiliations were broadly socialist. were provided with access to darkrooms. equipment. as well as technical and political advice.
Discussion groups were encouraged to consider questions around the interpretation of photographs according to class interests. "Whereas a ragged shepherd might supply a romantic
Chapter 2 -4 Critical Consideration page 60 touch to a landscape photograph, the V&FD insisted that the worker look behind the scene to ask 'Why is he in rags? A ragged appearance is in no way romantic but a concrete indication of a social situation'" (Ollmm. 1991, p.231). Not only the content of photographs but also the style was criticized from a proletarian perspective; retouching. for example. was discouraged. as was aestheticism. As a contemporary writer put it, "we must present things as they are. in a hard. merciless light" (quoted by Ollman, 199 1. p.23 1). rlrbeiter illlistrierte Zirt1ing ( 1924- 1938). a favourite magazine of the V'FD,made extensive use of the German photographer John
Heartfield's political montages which used savage humour to poke holes in Nazi deceptions.
Soviet photography was highly praised by the German worker-photographers for its directness and clarity: being post-revolutionary, the images were considered to be free from bourgeois falseness. According to Mrazkova and Remes (1 982). Soviet photography before 1930 was
"experimental. enthusiastic. and enchanted by the novelty and dynamism of life" (p. 10). .Among the Gem~anworker-photographers. generous use was made of captions that exhorted and encouraged while simultaneously politicizing images without clear political content. *Work
Begins' is the title of an image showing billowing steam against a mass of factory smoke stacks:
'Quiet. Little Bolshevik' shows a mother calming her child: 'Bread for Everyone' proclaims an image of a worker bagging grain. But the majority of the German worker-photographers concentrated on the misery of the present, producing images depicting dangerous working conditions and the exploitation of the proletariat. The identity of the photographers was protected fiom possible retaliation fiom bosses by accrediting the work only with the initials of the artist (a touch which also had the effect of emphasizing class identity over individual identity).
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 61 Ollman tracks the impact of the worker photography movement within Germany noting that it developed a sizeable audience, with 100 chapters and a 193 1 membership of MOO. Its own magazine, Der Arbeiter Fotogroj: maintained a circulation of 7.000 and Arbeiter Nlirxtrirrtr
Zierzmg, which published many VdlFD photographs. had a weekly circulation of 280.000. The movement was the model for many similar photography groups in the United States. England. and Holland. Despite this. V&FD failed to attain any of its political goals. and it was largely forgotten after its complete suppression with the Nazis's rise to power in 1933. With the exception of John Heartfield whose work has found a small niche within conventional North
American photography canons. VdVDphotograp hers are unknown outside the German
Democratic Republic (pre-Unification East Germany). in contrast to contemporary German bourgeois photographers such as August Sander and Erich Salom~n'~who are well known to
North American photographers. Ollman believes that the worker photography movement in
Germany was "curtailed by dogmatic policies and delusive practices - such as weaving forceful verbal propaganda around generally mediocre images" (Ollman. 199 1. p.244).
A similar organization in New York City. known as the Film and Photo League. began in
1928 as the cultural wing of the Leftist Workers's International Relief. The Film and Photo
League was formed to promote workers' films as an antidote to Hollywood cinema. By 1936. it had become the Photo League and its members concentrated on using still photography to promote social change. Like its German prototype. it provided darkroom space to its members.
''Heanfield, Sander. and Salomon experienced Nazi disapproval. While Heartfield managed to escape Germany, Sander was prohibited from publishing, and Salomon died with most of his family at Auschwitz in 1 944. According to Ollman, VdFD members and Arbeiter R/ustrierte Zietting editors met similar fates.
Chapter 2 .4 CriticaL Consideration page 62 published a newsletter (Photo Nofes).and hosted lectures and events. Among its guest lecturers were luminaries such as Roy Stryker, Lewis Hine, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams. Edward
Weston, Beaumont Newhall, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Its members. whose politics ranged a wide spectrum of liberal thought, included most of the active young photographers based in New
York City in the 1930s: Paul Strand. Aaron Siskind, Helen Levitt. Morris Engel. W. Eugene
Smith. Sid Grossman. Walter Rosenblum. Jerome Liebling. and Ruth Orkin. Targeting "the stultifying influence of the pictorialists" (promoted by the "reactionary" Lifi. magazine). as well as the censorship movement (propelled by the "fascist" Hearst press and the Legion of Decency)
(Photo Notes. August 1938). members of the Photo League produced group photographic projects, which they called 'documents'. depicting life within the city neighbourhoods of
Manhattan. In 1 947, the Photo League was placed on the attorney general's list of subversive organizations. and in 195 1 it was forced to disband. a victim of the Cold War.
While the experiences of the worker photography movements in the United States and throughout Europe varied From country to country. they raise many similar issues: the contrast between the expectations and accomplishments of the movement. the gap between the overestimation of its strength and the underestimation of its obstacles. the limitations of didactic imagery, the vulnerability of such groups to changes in the political climate. and the ultimate exclusion of these efforts from the history of photography. These issues continue to pose challenges for politically motivated photographers. Indeed the problems have been compounded by the growing use of documentary-style photographic imagery by corporate capitalism: because the visual language of social documentary photography has been appropriated for advertising. it has become increasingly difficult for photography to play a role in political resistance.
Chapter 2 Critical Consideration puge 43 Conclusion
This chapter has undertaken an investigation of the critical discourse on the historic and contemporary uses of photography as a tool for social analysis. Special attention has been paid to the traditions of visual anthropology and social documentary photography since these areas arc: most closely linked to the underlying premises of the Digby County photographic project. This investigation suggests that within the traditions of visual anthropology and social documentary photography. the camera has functioned as both a strategy of control and a strategy of representation with undeserved claims of authenticity. objectivity, and authority.
The work of photographers within these two traditions is read from a perspective that is shaped not only by photography's history. practices. conventions. and multi-layered market conditions. but also by meaning structures generated outside photography's boundaries. Far from providing objective visual facts that can be applied for purposes of neutral social investigation. photographs function within a signi@ing system that relies on complex visual codes to establish meaning. The codes operate as essential (but unmediated) deciphering devices. and they rely on accepted ideas. conventions, and social values to convey meaning and signal intention. The claim that photographs communicate the same information across cultures. across class. race. and gender differences. and across inequitable power relations has been challenged. Feminist. gay. Black, and Native critiques (Ferguson. Gever. Minh-ha. & West.
1990) hwe argued that cultural practices. abetted by the apparent transparent y of photography. have resulted in experiences of exclusion. inaccuracy. image appropriation. and misrepresentation.
As Wendy Kozol(1994) argues in her examination of Li$e magazine's role in shaping
Chapter 2 rl Crilical Consideration page 64 social views on gender and domesticity. photographs are not tixed depictions of reality. As
polysemic texts, they have unstable, shifting meanings which are open to different
interpretations. Kozol claims that while the aesthetic of realism transforms "actual events into
symbolic meaningsJ' (p.5). the meaning does not have to be fixed to effectively serve the interests
of the state. "Contradictions. slippages, and instabilities in representation enable audiences to
negotiate with pictures to make sense of their lives" (p.5). Acknowledging Sekula's observation
(1989) that it is essential to evaluate realism within cultural production in terms of who produces
the images. in what institutional contexts. and for which audiences. Kozol claims that certain
images published in Lifr magazine were allowed to
... remain open to critical. even oppositional. readings (as we will see in the published letters to the editor). Despite the potential for different readings. L* sought to win consent for a preferred reading through discursive strategies that constrained the range of options in favour of dominant positions. (p. 15)
According to Kozol. captions attempt to close and direct interpretations. but they never do so
completely. Cultural practices. such as picture magazines. function as "sites of struggle over
meaningJ'(p. 18).
Lutz and Collins, whose analysis of Nntionnl Geographic uses a similar methodological
framework to Kozol's examination of Llfr magazine, write that the iVurionui Grogruphic
photograph of the 'non- Westerner'
... is not simply a captured view of the other. but rather a dynamic site at which many gazes or viewpoints intersect. This intersection creates a complex and multi-dimensional object; it allows viewers of the photo to negotiate a number of different identities both for themselves and for those pictured. ( 1994, pp.363-364)
Jan Zita Grover (1989) concurs that photographs provide a site for struggle over meaning within the context of sexual identity in her examination of photographs taken by lesbians. She
- .- Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 65 shows how images can be read in one way by the subculture that produces them and in another way by those within the dominant culture. Members of a subculture, she says. have had to work from a position of clarity to "transform the materials and values of dominant culture for our own purposesJ' (p. 174).
This investigation of the use of photography as a tool for observing and analysing social change suggests that visual anthropology and documentary photographs do not offer evidence but rather sites of struggle over meaning. Although the ideological and political functions of such photographs are inevitably embedded in the imagery. KozoI(1994) and Grover ( 1989) argue that meaning cannot be absolutely fixed. Depending on the viewing context. the supporting discursive strategies. and the perspective of the viewer. oppositional readings can be negotiated to facilitate the use of photographs in social analysis.
Photography and Social Analysis
Many writers. while acknowledging that photographs require interpretation. have claimed that they nevertheless contain potential social information. Alan Trachtenberg ( 1988) writes.
"The FSA-OW1 photographs tell not a single 'story' but a multitude of stories. Images deposited in the lots [a FSA cataloguing system] are raw material. not yet ordered. not yet inflected into distinct relationships or sequences. They await another editorial act" (1988. p.70). Allan Sekuia
( 1984) states. "The photograph. as it stands alone, presents merely the possibility of meaningJ'
(p.7). John Tagg ( 1989) argues. "Photographs are never 'evidence' of history; they are themselves the historical" (p.65). Because the meaning of imagery is constructed within a specific political and historical context. the interpretation of photographs must be a mediated.
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 66 thoughtful analytical process that acknowledges social circumstances at both the photographing and interpreting stages.
Several key features of the process of claiming photographic meaning have been identified. John Tagg (1988) identifies "real historical research" (p.204). He asserts that historical research offers "a multiplicity of points of intervention. limited objectives. courses of action open now, ends that can be achieved through struggle" (p.204). Scherer (1992) points to triangulation - a standard strategy in social science inquiry. as Marshall and Rossman ( 1989) note
- which she claims is essential for anthropological photographic interpretation.
Neither the photograph itself as artefact. nor the viewer's interpretation of the subject of the photograph, or an understanding of the photographer's intention. can alone give holistic meaning to images. It is only by looking at the three as parts of a process. ideally in reference to groups of related images. that one can extract relevant sociocultural meaning from photographs. (p.32)
But the 'photograph itself as artefact'. the viewer's interpretation. and the photogmphcr's intention may not be sufficient for 'holistic meaning'. Deborah Barndt ( 1980) argues that the perspective of the subject is also crucial to the production of meaning. Barndt provides a framework for "the alternative use of photographs" which advocates critical content. collective production, personal engagement with the subject matter. a context which permits oppositional perspectives. input from the subjects through text and other strategies. and shared control of the technology. content, and meaning.
The suggestions offered by Tagg (1 988), Scherer ( 1992). and Barndt ( 1980) indicate that photographs can be usefully applied to social science research if an appropriate methodology is developed. Many researchers, such as Ganzel(1984), Wood (1989), and Doty ( 199 1). have combined historic photographs with interviews with the original subjects and contemporary
-- Chapter 2 R Critical Consideration page 6- photographs to investigate social change. A particularly interesting example of research involving historic photographs oCNova Scotia is Mining Photographs and Other Pictlrres 1948-
1968: A Selection from the Negative Archives of Shedden St zidio. Glace Bay. Cape Breton
(Buchloh & Wilkie, 1983), which includes photographs by Leslie Shedden and essays by Don
Macgillivray and Allan Sekula. This examination of the photographs of a commercial photographer located in Glace Bay is a critical investigation of the conditions of cultural production at a point in Cape Breton's history when the experience of colonization was being exchanged for the experience of marginalization. Most of the photographs. depicting mining operations. equipment. miners, and colliery buildings. were produced for the Dominion Steel and
Coal Corporation (DOSCO):the rest consist of a variety of commercial work done for the general community of Glace Bay: studio portraits. promotional photos for local merchants. C wedding photographs. class pictures. and community events. The essays focus on the cultural consequences of the social and political changes occurring during this period.
Despite the notable absence of input from the subjects (a strategy used in the follow-up projects of Ganzel. 1981; Wood. 1989: and Doty. 199 1 ). Mining Pictures offers a useful model for analysing historic photographs. The essays provide information about the working and living conditions of this mining community, the power relations embedded in class conflict. the
"emerging picture-language of industrial capitalism1'(Sekula's term, 1983, p.203 j, and the process of negotiation required of Leslie Shedden as an artisan with creative aspirations and business demands and as an industrial photographer who needed to maintain positive relationships with both DOSCO and the miners and their families.
Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 68 Buchloh and Wilkie's study of Glace Bay, Puckett's work on photo-textual dispossession books. and the follow-up projects indicated above provide useful models for the analysis of the
Digby County photographs. Some of the key elements identified by researchers for social science research involving photographs are: an historical analysis that provides the economic. political, and social conditions, information about the cultural context that generated the photographs. the photographer's intention and working procedures. the contemporary response and interpretations, and input from the subjects.
While their usehlness as an instrument of evidence has been shown to be problematic. photographs nevertheless serve an important function in the complex discourse on social change.
In order to shift the political function of the camera from control and representation to reflection and dialogue. the process of interpretation must be acknowledged. For photographs to be used effectively in the observation and analysis of social change. it is essential to name. identify. and contextualize the three agents of the picture-taking process who collaborate in the production of meaning - the photographer. the viewer. and the subject. This investigation of the critical discourse on the historic and contemporary uses of photography in social analysis suggest that the key to the effective use of the Digby County photographs in social science research is the development of a clear and precise methodology.
- Chapter 2 A Critical Consideration page 69 Chapter Three Methodology
1. Issues around Methodology
North American cuiture in the late 20th century is a culture dominated by images.
Despite the ubiquity of visual imagery. an increasingly familiar lament among media critics is that within this culture visual illiteracy appears to persist and indeed worsen". Many theorists
(including Martha Roslcr, 198 1. Allan Sekula. lWYI982. John Tagg. 1988. and Richard Bolton.
1989). following the lead of the Frankfurt School proponents" who identified ideology as a central factor in the production of mass culture. and synthesizing these ideas with the poststructuralist perspective which maintains that meaning does not exist independent of a social context. have argued that photographs represent an arena of ideological struggle.
The analysis of photographic data within a culture that is simultaneously visually illiterate and visually saturated with ideologically driven imagery demands a carefully developed methodology. By what means is social information extricated from photographic imagery'? Hou
11 The Visual Literacy movement developed as the impact of television on the learning patterns of children became observed. Television continues to be the medium most often studied by researchers of visuai literacy. Richard Sinatra ( 1986) defines visual literacy as "the active reconstruction of past visual experience with incoming visual messages to obtain meaning" (p.5). Visual illiteracy is linked to passive reception of visual messages and weak or non-functioning analytical skills in assigning meaning to visual images.
" The term 'Frankfurt School' designates a group of Marxist intellectuals - among them Theodor Adorno. Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, and Walter Benjamin - associated with the Institute for Social Research which was founded in Germany in 1923 and relocated to Geneva in 1933. Their primary interests were the integration of philosophy with social analysis and the impact of mass media on culture.
Chapter 3 Methodology page 70 is social analysis enhanced by photographic information? What processes can be employed in the extrapolation of meaningful and significant social information from photographs? What techruques can be used to interpret visual representations'? On what basis is an interpretation substantiated? And finally. what methods can be applied to meaningfully and succinctly transmogrify this information to a written format? These methodological questions nerd to be considered - particularly as they apply to photographs produced within the anthropological and documentary domains - before an analysis of the Digby County photographs can commence.
Anthropological photographs have been deeply implicated in the 19th century experience of imperialism and colonization. frequently reflecting the needs and attitudes of the anthropologists more accurately than the qualities and issues of the subjects (Ruby. 1990;
Edwards. 1992: Mydin. 1992; among others"). In addition. critiques of the visual representation of social relations (Berger. 1972; Sontag. 1973: Rosler. 198 1: Sekula. 1983: Tagg. 1988) have argued that photographs have played a significant supporting role in maintaining inequitable social relations on a global scale. The major structures that frame these unequal relations have been formed by capitalism (characterized by a power differential between labour and capital in which the surplus labour of workers is used to generate profits for those with capital); by global racism (characterized by a power differential between indigenous and imperialist peoples in which the resources and labour of the developing countries are used to benefit those in the overdeveloped countries); by patriarchy (characterized by a power differential between men and
'I It is not only photographic imagery that has been implicated in critiques of visual representation in anthropology. Wi ber ( 1997) has studied illustrations of human evolution used in anthropological texts. She uncovered false and disturbing assumptions around gender and race issues which were embedded in the images. women in which men have greater economic and social power than women): and by personal privilege (characterized by a power differential between marginalized and dominant groups and individuals - for whom privilege is signified by socially determined. but personally carried. identifying features such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity. religion. fiscal resources, education, appearance, and physical abilities - in which the needs, experiences. and demands of the powerful have priority over the needs. experiences. and demands of those occupying the less powerful strata).
While the connection between photography and this large framework of global inequity may appear remote. a long line of cultural commentators (Moholy-Nagy ''. 1950; McLuhan.
195 1 : Debord. l967/1995; and Ewen. 1988) have argued that the images depicted in television. film. magazines. advertisements. newspapers. and other arenas of mass culture within the
Western hegemony have superseded written text in the role of primary educator. conveying social values. establishing expected norms of behaviour. and dei ineating the parameters of social discourse. The camera has been identified as a significant agent in the propagation of the ideology necessary to justify inequitable social relations. and visual information has been discerned as a pivotal mechanism in the designation of position within complex power structures.
Photographic conventions (developed within the cultural institutions of news media. photojournalism programs. and art colleges) and photographic imperatives (grounded within the economic practices and material realities of photographic companies and practitioners) supply
A Bauhaus associate, photographer, and proponent of the Constructivist movement which valued machinery and technology as the basis for spiritual and democratic social transformation, Moholy-Nagy (1950) asserted in a 1922 article that "words are heavy, obscurenwhile images speak "the language of the senses".
Chapter 3 Methodology page -2 the linkage between imagery and inequity. Influenced by the writings of Italian political thinker
Antonio Gramsci (197 1) who postulated that power is more effectively maintained through consent than through force, some theorists (Buchloh & Wilkie, 1983; Lutz & Collins. 1993; and
Kozol, 1994, are examples) have examined photographs reproduced within popular culture for their ideological content. Gramsci argued that hegemony is not a permanent or stable state but
must be continually secured through a complex series of social and cultural practices which seek
to accommodate resistance, contradiction. and opposition in order to achieve collusion among
those who Face domination and control while maintaining the appearance of legitimacy. The
profusion of visual representational strategies employed by photographers and their publishers to
reinforce the ideology that permits social inequity - sometimes as deliberate expressions of a
political perspective, sometimes as unconscious manifestations of widely held and poorly
understood beliefs - have included over-simplification. inaccuracy. misrepresentation. image
appropriation. and exclusi~n~~.The power relations embedded in the specific photographing circumstances. and more generally in the conditions in which image meaning is constructed. tend
to be obscured particularly at the viewing stage of the photographic process where there is an
inclination to accept photographs uncritically as if the representation of the event is
undistinguishable from the event itself. Peter Galassi (1995) points out that the documentary style of photography is "based upon the illusion that the photograph is a transparent window on reality: the viewer stands where the photographer once stood." This transparency is so
151t is worth noting here Sekula's observation (1986/89) that photography does not always serve the interests of the state. To evaluate the function performed by photographs as sites of negotiation and resistance, Sekula suggests that it is essential to consider who has produced the images, in what context. and for which viewing audience.
- Chapter 3 Methodology page 73 persuasive that the documentary photographer is invisible. "...standing there, anyone would have
made the same photograph" (p.10).
Photographing Conditions in Digby County
In the case of the Digby County photographs (which were produced within the context of
a large epidemiological research project). the position of power normally accorded to the
photographer because of the medium's historic claim to authentic representation may well have
been fortified by the additional layers of academic, medical. psychiatric. anthropological. and
other scientific identities. It is likely that these layers of power relations were strengthened
further by the interpersonal dynamics between photographer and subjects within the context o t' an Atlantic Canadian rural setting. where the photographer was not only male. white. and
American (in a site where being 'come-from-away' is sometimes perceived as an indication of opportunity and accomplishment unavailable to the local p~pulation'~).but also carried the
further personal privileges of belonging to the dominant English-speaking, heterosexual. and middle-class social groups. Collier's personal identification as one who was hearing impaired
(and one whose basic philosophical orientation predisposed him to a perspective of social justice) did not diminish these privileges although perhaps made their consequences more labyrinthine.
The issue of power relations is significant when considering the question of how to analyse the social content of the Digby County photographs. Since the photographs were produced within the complex and problematic domain of anthropological photography. it may be
l6 'Come-from-away' contains within itself a curious ambivalence: its central connotation is a mildly negative inference of ignorance of local customs but at the same time it implies wider experiences.
Chapfer3 A4erhodology page 74 usehl to review Kolodny's ( 1978) critical framework of anthropological photography (which was discussed in Chapter 2) before delineating the methodology for the analysis of visual data.
Observing that anthropology involves an interface of cultures. Kolodny describes three models of anthropological photography, which she designates primitivism. documentary. and realism. and argues that their function is to mediate between the cultures of the anthropologists and their research subjects. Noting that a basic premise of anthropological inquiry is that the study of another culture must be "both holistic and contestual" to be accurate. Kolodny argues that this goal cannot be attained within the conventions of anthropological photography. In a1 1 three models. Kolodny asserts. photographs transform their subjects into aesthetic and contemplative objects through drcontextualization and fragmentation. The photographing process itself distances the subjects as a category of 'Others' into a safe domain set apart From experiential reality and transforms the subjects into aesthetic phenomena. Kolodny characterizes primitivism as the dominant model of anthropological photography. but she posits that all three models are intrinsically connected to and informed by each other. Despite apparent contradic!ions in their assumptions and methods. the ideological underpinnings of the three models reinforce each other. forming a cohesive system of representation. "Because all [three representational models] have grown out of the same cultural setting they have worked in overlapping fashion and have been mutually supportive" (p. 102). Photographs taken within the dominant primitivist model are seen as "a means of revealing the unseen world of essences which lies beneath the surface of observable reality" (p.82). Although the primitivist "unseen world of essences" is replaced within the model of realism by the "world of facts". the strategy of using observable reality as a comdor to an invisible reality underneath the surface (a reality of attitudes
Chaprer 3 Methodology page 75 and values) is still operational within the realist mode.
The scientific approach that informs the epidemiological study of Digby County flags the
position of the Digby County photographs as realist within Kolodny's framework. According to
Kolodny, the realism model is grounded in a positivist paradigm and shaped by the supposition
that the photograph is a scientific and factual record of life with the capacity to reveal empirical
infom~ation.Photographers working within this conceptual model are guided by the assumption
that empirical enquiry does not transform the objects they record but merely presents them tbr
anthropological scrutiny.
Acknowledging that the Digby County photographs were produced under conditions of
inequitable power relations. within a domain of decontextualiwtion and fragmentation. and
based on an empirical approach unaware of its own potential for transformative impact. the task
of designing interpretive methodology becomes decidedly more complex. It is useful to
remember Roland Barthes's famous assertion (1982) that the photograph is polysemic. that it has
no single independent meaning but many possible meanings depending upon context and use.
While photography's ability to connote free-ranging meaning is noted. we must also register
Richard Bolton's disclaimer (I 989) that, just as certain readings are made possible by the
viewing context. other readings are made impossible.
2. Four Methodological Models
For help with this task of developing analytical methods (and uncovering the 'impossible' readings as well as the possible ones), it has been useful to turn to other social critiques that have made use of photographic imagery. Four examples of research using anthropological
- Chapter 3 Methodology page 76 photographs were reviewed for their methodological techniques: The Qrresr ofrhe Folk ( 1994) by
Ian McKay, Reading National Geographic (1993) by Catherine Lutz and Jane Collins. Womm of' rhe Shadows: A Sirrdy of rhe Wives and ib10ther.s of'Smrheun Italy (1976) by AM Cornelism. and
Vislud dnthropology: Photography as a Research Method (1967/86) by John Collier Jr. The frst two examples (The Quest of the Folk and Reading National Geographic) critically analyse the ideological function of specific photographs produced within the realm of popularized anthropology. The third example (Women of the Shahws) is a sociological study that uses both text and images to provide information about a community of Italian women. The fourth example (Visual rlnihropology) is a methodological handbook. All four studies have particular relevance to the Dig by County photographs.
McKay's Tile Quest of tile Folk
Ian McKay's The Qrresi ofthe Folk (1994)explores how. driven by the needs of the tourism industry during the post-war period. a cultural identity for Nova Scotia was fashioned that was in keeping with efforts to represent the region as an attractive tourist site ('Canada's
Ocean Playground'. as the province's license plate has proclaimed since 1972). According to
McKay. "antimodemist cultural producers" (including the revered folklorist Helen Creighton and the influential handicraft revivalist Mary Black) used cultural icons (such as songs. crafis. art. photographs, and other cultural devicesI7) to create an identity for Nova Scotians as simple 'folk'
in his 1992 article, Tartanism triumphant: The construction of Scottishness in Nova Scotia, 1933- 54, McKay argues that under Angus L. Macdonald's premiership ( 1933- 1954) the province adopted a policy of 'tartanization' in which Nova Scotia's Scottish identity was embraced and its cultural diversity denied.
Chapter 3 Methodology page t' with traditional values whose history is devoid of class struggle. racial and ethnic conflict. and competing interests. McKay probes the multiple layers of meaning embedded in a photograph taken circa l89O-l9OO in Mill Cove, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia. Drawing on particularized knowledge of the material conditions depicted in the photograph. McKay begins his analysis with a detailed description of the image:
The photograph is of a small cabin with weather-beaten boards. encircled by a rough- hewn rock wall and sod for insulation: a rickety ladder leads to a loosely shingled roof. deeply stained by the soot from the stove chimney. In front of the house stand seven people, presumably its occupants: on the left. two men. one an old man with a hll white beard. the other a man of younger years: in the centre. a woman in front of a tub. with a bent back and gaunt face; on :he right. four children - two girls in pinafores. and two boys. one of them still in a young child's dress. In the foreground. rocks are everywhere. and in the distance, one can just discern the far horizon of the hills on the opposite shore of the Cove. (McKay. 1994. pi)
b1cKay is careful to identify and acknowledge his assumptions about the image (e.p.
"presumably its occupantsJ'. "some doubt as to whether the smallest figure is a boy or a girl". "one might infer that these people constitute a family grouping and that ... they are poor people who depend on the fishery for their livelihood". p.xii). To this description of the image McKay adds two more pieces of information: the photograph is captioned 'A simple Lifr [sic], House 8 .Y I0
Mill Cove NS. '. and the photograph is a postcard.
The knowledge that the image is merchandise. McKay contends, "defines the scene as a commodity of a particular son", and makes it clear that the photograph was aimed at an audience outside of Mill Cove. The importance of the title. McKay suggests, becomes clear if alternate titles are substituted: 'The Hearhen Poor Upon Ow Coasrs ' expresses the conventional Victorian disapproval of poverty and isolation: 'S~rvutionand Szrffring through Capitalisr
Underdevelopment' uses a different kind of rhetoric to represent the situation in Marxist terms.
Chapter 3 1Methodologv page 78 'A simple Life ' celebrates a romantic vision of life ( 'Life e') in Mill Cove, Nova Scotia. This vision is somewhat undermined by the modest dimensions of the cottage ( '8 .Y 10'). and indeed
McKay asserts that such prosaic details were increasingly dropped from "ever more essentialist representations of the coast. which as the twentieth century unfolds will become more and more the symbolic landscape of the simple life and the sturdy tishertblk" ( 1994. p-xv). McKay argues that it is through such representations that complex and multi- faceted people living difficult and complicated lives came to be simplified and made into archetypes. "bearers of Nova Scotia's cultural essence". In his analysis McKay argues that it is the "enabling framework" of the image that conveys the social content: the meaning of the photograph is obligingly pliable.
Lutz and Collins's Rracling National Geograplric
Like [an McKay's examination of the Mill Cove postcard. photographic images provide the source of data in Rending iV~ionrriGeographic (Lutz & Collins. 1993). a study of iVc~riond
Grographic's depiction of the non-Western world. Noting that cultural products such as magazines have complex production sites. provide ambiguous and rnultilayered signification codes. and offer a plethora of unanticipated. contradictory readings. the authors conducted a three-pronged investigation which focused on the National Geographic Society and its production process. the structure and content of almost 600 randomly selected photographs published in the magazine from 1959 to 1986, and the reactions and interpretations of 55 sample readers of National Geographic to selected images. The authors argue that the magazine. while purporting to depict distant cultures actually provides a revealing portrait of American culture and its complex hierarchy of race, class. and gender. Their analysis depicts a magazine with an ambivalent perspective towards the non-Western world. Its approach promotes a liberal
humanism and acknowledges universal values, and celebrates diversity, while simultaneously
promulgating Western superiority and denying fimdarnental differences in experiences.
The methodology used in the analysis of the National Geographic photographs is based.
the authors state. on the various devices that photographs use to signifj. meaning:
...through formal elements such as color. composition. and vantage point: through narrative structure. including what is internal to the shot and what results from setting photographs in a sequence; through specific items in photo and caption that relate directly to cultural ideas and phenomena outside the picture; through their position in a cultural hierarchy that includes art. television. and consumer goods; and through their ability to assume or ignore, to evoke or discount. their readers' social experience and values. (p.88)
Each of the randomly selected 594 photographs was coded for 22 characteristics by two
researchers working independently. The codes (which the researchers helpfully append) include descriptive features such as gender and age of subjects. wealth indicators. skin colour. dress style. nudity. gaze. urban/rural settings. types of activity. and other information which can be ascertained visually. Noting that "quantification does not preclude or substitute for qualitative analysis of the pictures" (p.89). the authors argue that the statistical approach helps not only to guard against a priori assumptions and unconscious subjectivity but also to provide a fine- toothed comb for subtle patterns of visual data. The quantification of visual data has an additional advantage of facilitating the presentation of the information by means of graphs. charts. tables, and other visual aids which accompany the text.
The authors identify a number of themes running through the magazine's rendering of the non-Euroamerican world. Non-Westerners are depicted as exotic. idealized. sexualized. and naturalized people. These findings suggest that the magazine's overall outlook conforms to the
Chapter 3 Methodology page 80 dominant primitivism model within Kolodny's theoretical framework although the scientific and
educational orientation indicates the influence of the realism model1! Like McKay's Nova
Scotians, the people depicted in National Geographic are reduced to essentialist archetypes
through a complex social process of meaning production which. as the researchers' interviews
with readers of the magazine make clear. involves a collaboration among the editors. the
photographers. and the viewers. The mechanisms used to reinforce the evolutionist sub-texr of
the narrative - the idea that "Pacific islanders may be represented as a relative to the American or
European, a simpler version of ourselves" (p. 139) - rely heavily on race and gender
representational strategies. The chief subjects of 65% of the photographs randomly chosen by
the researchers for analysis are men: of the 235 sample photographs containing women. most use content. pose. and lighting which reference Western artistic convmtions. These conventions (as
Nead. 1991. Nochlin. 1989. and Betterton. 1987. have described) depict the female as nurturer. consumable object. and recipient of protection and direction. 1 1 % of the sample photographs which include women show them in some degree of undress. According to the researchers. the magazine's images and narrative draws on a fiuniliar Western representation of gender dichotomy which Lutz and Collins characterize as 'women as sexual icons. men as skilful navigators'.
Lutz and Collins describe how specific photographic techniques are utilized to reinforce the overarching ideological theme. They contend. for example. that the medium of colour photography with its long association with advertising and glamorized images communicates a message of consumption and spectacle. Likewise the photographic technique of shallow depth of
I8 As previously noted, Kolodny contends that such overlapping of the models is common.
Chapter 3 Methodology page 8 I field. a frequently employed feature of lVntional Geographic images. produces an aestheticized blur of colour with minimal information about social context. material conditions in an industrialized modem age, or postcolonial historic circumstances.
The researchers track Nationul Geographic through changes in its representation of issues around race and argue that these changes are more closely tied to shifts in American circumstances than changes to the conditions of the non-Western countries. As late as the 1950s. the magazine regularly showed images that depicted Asians and Africans tending to the physical comforts of white explorers and photographers - carrying thrm across rivers. pulling thrm in rickshaws, and carrying their bags. Lutz and Collins argue that by the 1960s. when race relations in the US. had reached a stage of volatility. these images were perceived as too disturbing. too reminiscent of rebellion and anger within the American social context. Presented with this dilemma. the magazine. according to Lutz and Collins. used a visual representational strategy frequently employed by liberal humanists facing the contradiction between the unpleasant reality and the pretended illusion. what might be called representation by omission: Caucasian travellers simply disappeared from the pictures". The researchers were also able to pick out clear distinctions between depictions of people who were coded as white and those who were coded as black (based on a variety of identifying features relating to race). Those coded as black were more likely to be photographed in large groups, and less likely to be photographed operating (or even in the proximity of) machinery. Lutz and Collins suggest that it is through such subtle visual clues that underlying disturbing and false assumptions - for example. that Blacks are less
IY Terry Eagleton (1976) remarks on the manifestation of this ideological strategy in literary criticism: "It is in the significant silences of a test, in its gaps and absences that the presence of ideology can be most positively felt. It is these silences which the critic must make 'speak'" (p.33).
Chaplet- 3 Methodology page 82 civilized than Caucasians - are conveyed with impunity.
Reading National Geographic looks specifically at how the magazine utilizes the mass culture format to fulfil anthropological photography's traditional function as a response to the needs of the Western world. Mydin (1992) has summarized the contemporary needs met by 19th century anthropological photography as intellectual (intended to establish evolutionary ideas). commercial (designed to meet the pornographic and exotic markets), and methodological
(devised to establish photography and anthropology as reliable scientiiic methods). while Gould
(1 98 1). Street (l992), Edwards (l990), and others have focused on the political purposes of anthropoloy ical photography which they argue provided the justification for imperialist domination. exploitation. and theft of resources. Lutz and Collins's book is framed by a description of two political actions undertaken by the United States - the invasion of Gnnada in
1983 (which garnered widespread American support and which provided the initial impetus - because of their curiosity about. and opposition to. this support - for the authors' research into iVaiionizl Geographic) and the bombing of Iraq in 199 1 (which also received enthusiastic support among American civilians). Their examination of iVotionrrl Geographic is specifically concerned with the paradoxical relationship between the magazine's (and the U.S.'s) expressed humanistic ideals and the country's struggle with racism, xenophobia. and ethnocentricism and its unpopularity in many countries where it is perceived as an aggressor. They argue that liberal humanism is too fraii an ideological framework and beset by too many internal contradictions to accommodate diflkrences in experience.
------Chapter3 Methodology page 83 Cornelisen's Women of the Slmiows
McKay used a single image to describe a broad analysis of the cultural conditions that produced the postcard and shaped its meaning; Lutz and Collins examine a large body of published photographs for information about the society that produced it. Both studies focus on the photographs as the source of information. Ann Cornelisen's Women of the Shadows: .-l Sfl& of the Wives and Mothers of Southern Italy (1 976) exemplifies a more prevalent function of photography in sociological studies: the illustrative function. Unlike the first two examples.
LVomen of the Shadows does not analyse the photographs but rather uses them to illustrate the text. The book depicts the lives of rural Italian women who inhabited isolated villages in the area of Lucania in southern Italy during the two decades following World War I1 when most of the men fiom the area were forced to leave their homes in search of work in the factories of the industrial north. Drawing on participant observation research and open-ended interviews. and writing from a perspective of deep empathy for these women whose lives are described as complex. difficult. passionate. and characterized by constant striving and insecure accomplishments. Cornelisen provides six case histories to graphically describe the conditions in southern Italy. The poverty. isolation. marginalization. unemployment. underdevelopment. dislocation. and disruption of families are strikingly similar to the circumstances in Nova Scotia during the same period (conditions which persist in both places). The setting. which Cornelisen describes in language that is remarkably visual and even photographic. "is not the gentle. terraced landscape of Renaissance painting. It is a bare, sepia world, a cruel world of jagged. parched hills, dry river beds and distant villages where clumps of low houses ciing together on the edges of cutbanks" (pp. 1-2).
- - Chapter 3 Methodolog): page 84 Twenty-two photographs are included in the study, including a series of 15 which ends
the book. Seven photographs are used to introduce the book and each of the six chapters. a
function which underscores the images' utilitarian and formalistic scope. Although hampered by
poor reproduction and uneven quality, many of the photographs (which were taken by Cornelisen
herself) are majestic. Depicting cobble-stoned streets lined with ancient wrought-iron water
fountains and leading to quarried rock stairs. and brooding landscapes of farm-fields specked
with women dressed in black and carrying indeterminate burdens on their heads. the imagery is
emotionally evocative, revelling in pictorial atmosphere.
Despite their unarguably painterly appeal. however. the photographs' capacity to
contribute to an understanding of the social conditions of the region is undermined by a lack of
specific social information. Conveying a mood of romanticism and harmony, they articulate a
simplistic and formulaic narrative that is contradictory. in both form and content. to the narrative
of the text. which is full of minute visual details. complicated patterns of conflicts and troubles.
and elaborate complexity. The strength of the text lies in the presentation of the specific details
of the women's lives - details that are confusing. inconsistent. chaotic. and insistent about their
own significance - within a broad sociological context that offers clarity. analysis. and structure.
In contrast. the photographs float unanchored to the text. without captions, without dates. with no
information about the crops that are cultivated. the burdens carried, the roads traversed. or the tasks undertaken. The images tlash only a fleeting nod in the direction of specificity.
Using Kolodny's framework. the Cornelisen photographs appear to function within the primitivist model. Celebrating the formal qualities of tonality. composition. and balance. the images strip the depicted individuals of their specific cultural identities, and present them as
Chapter 3 Methodology page 85 aesthetic objects, timeless and universal. This is particularly evident in the 15-photograph series which ends the book. Titled "A Life Cycle" (a nomenclature that calls to mind a biological study of the fruit tly), the series begins with an image of a group of young active girls and ends with one of a solitary, introspective. and darkly clad elderly matron. Purporting to span the life of
'woman' in southern Italy, the images tlatten and reduce through a variety of technical strategies
- dark printing, telephoto lens. dim light. compressed depth. shallow focus plane. and obscuring graininess - which underscore the aestheticism of the imagery. The universalizing metonymy is in sharp contrast to the text which passionately imparts complexity, diversity. and speciticity.
Cornelisen's photographs of Italian women are clearly supplementary to the primary sources of research which are the interviews and the observations: the function of the photographs in terms of the book" is primarily decorative.
Collier's Visital Antltropology
While the three studies considered as models thus far utilize photographs that were produced within the realm of anthropological photography (which has been stretched to include popularized versions). the images that were chosen as visual data by these studies vary in terms of their function and form. They include a postcard. professional photojournalistic images produced for a Western consumer market. and aesthetically pleasing photographs by a participant observer. All three studies share some common features with the Digby County photographic project which was based in a rural area in Nova Scotia (an area beset by underdevelopment.
Although Cornelisen does not confirm this, a function of the photographing process may have been to facilitate the collection of the research data. Collier ( 1967) has described how photographs can be used to establish rapport with the community.
Chapter 3 Methodology puge 86 outmigration, and marginalization), and which was produced by a professional photojournalist
who was also a participant observer living within the community for an extended period.
While each model provides useful strategies for developing an interpretive methodology.
none has all the key features of the Digby County photographic project that make it so unusual.
The Digby County photographic study is a 7,000-image collection produced during eight months
(spread out over a period of 13 months) by a single photographer - an experienced professional
documentary photographer - working closely with a large group of participant observers
comprised of anthropological researchers and students. Only a small sampling of the
photographs was ever published or was ever intended to be published. Just one exhibit was
assembled for temporary display within the research site. The photographs were produced
primarily as data for the perusal of the social scientists who used them to develop hypotheses
about the complex connection between sociocultural conditions and emotional health. The
characteristics of this collection that make it a particularly fertile source of social information
include its mammoth size. disciplined approach. professional photographic standards. and a
perspective informed by social science.
The Digby County photographer John Collier provides some assistance with the task of
developing an interpretive methodology with his book. Visual Anrhropology: Phorography us tr
Rrsemch Method (1967/1986), which describes the methodology for producing photographs as
visual data within an anthropological framework. Thus unlike the previous three examples, the
fourth methodological model neither analyses photographs nor uses them to illustrate its
findings, but rather offers insight into the conceptual process that generates photographs (most gratifyingly, by the very photographer who produced the Digby County images).
Chapter 3 Methodology page 87 Noting that anthropological photographic projects consist of three phases: an introductory stage intended to offer an overview of the site (10 observe and discover the social patterns). a process of gathering particularized and specific information (to develop data around particular categories of information). and the final abstraction of data into conclusions (to generate conclusions that are supportable. confirmable. and communicable). Collier provides precise descriptions of the camera's role in all three phases. While observing that anthropologists have tended to enthusiastically include photography in the initial phase of research for certain limited and immediate purposes (to ease entree. Facilitate orientation. develop rapport. clarify the research goal. and reward potential participants). he maintains that its function as a source of particultxized data with abstractive qualities has been overlooked. He suggests that a starting point for anthropological photographers is the production of a panoramic series of photographs depicting the community's important public sites which. he posits. can provide significant visual information about the economic. cultural. recreational. and ethnic activities and identity of the area. He notes that the Acadian communities in Nova Scotia arrange themselves in ways that are strikingly different from the English-speaking communities although they share similar ecology: continuous strips of habitation are characteristic of the Acadian areas while delineated centres surrounded by less populous outskirts are more typical of English-speaking sections. As a project unfolds. Collier suggests. it becomes possible to enter the private domain for an inventory of family households. revealing information about affluence level. family interests. attitudes. activities. literacy level, psychological order, religious beliefs, and cultural and ethnic identity.
Collier states that the camera is an invaluable sociornetric aid in nonverbal communication research, such as kinesics (the study of culturally patterned body posture and
Chapter 3 kfethodoiogy page 88 gestures [Birdwhistell, 19521). and proxemics (the study of culturally determined spatial relationships [Hall, 19661). Collier describes how photographs taken at a dance at a yacht club in
Digby County revealed shifts to the local power structure as demonstrated by behaviour and cluster patterns among individuals at the dance. The social traditions within the community. usually quite restrictive and austere. were loosened by the atmosphere of dance and alcohol. and as a result submerged social forces were exposed".
In a 1957 article published in American ilnthropologist. Collier describes how a photographic housing survey was conducted in Digby County" to facilitate and standardize a community poverty assessment by comparing size and upkeep of housing stock. The sunq also expedited a graphic mapping of povertyhffluence pattems. Collier compares interviews involving photographs as discussion aids with interviews using only verbal probes. He asserts that the quality of interviews with photographs was consistently higher: the discussions were more relaxed and information of a more precise nature was revealed.
Collier's summary of the methods for abstracting the information provided by photographs. which he identifies as counting. measuring. comparing. qualifying. and tracking. makes clear the positivist paradigm in which his methodological approach is located. He suggests that an inventory of the variables allows statistical pattems to emerge. which establish the interrelationship of those variables. This process also facilitates the condensing of the visual data into charts, diagrams. and statistical tables.
" Subsequently the photographs from this event were passed around the community and the gossip that resulted created serious problems for Collier. As he recounts in his book, it was necessary to expend some effort in recovering the good will and trust lost through this incident.
" In their examination of Nova Scotia rum1 housing, Latrernouille and Flanagan ( 1986) employ a similar use of photographs; vernacular housing design reveals information about cultural heritage.
Chapter 3 Ilflethodolop puge Y 9 Summary
The models that were considered in this review offer a range of useful methods for analysing photographs. McKay's consideration of the 'enabling framework' (the caption. accompanying text. presenting agency. and original function) is supported by Lutz and Collins's examination of the 'production sites' (the publications and institutions that produce the photographs). Both models point to the importance of considering the impossible readings. visual gaps. and omissions by asking who is not in the pictures and what is not bring depicted.
McKay's example suggests that it is helpful to begin an examination of photographic data with a detailed description of the photographic content. drawing on particularized knowledge of the photographed conditions while carefully identifying arid questioning assumptions.
Cornelisen's book. while its text offers a detailed and passionate analysis. provides a negative model with her use of photographic imagery. demonstrating that the human condition is understood more precisely through specificity than universality. detailed complexity than aestheticism. Lutz and Collins point out the usefulness of considering internal and external issues. such as the political forces associated with the production of the images: the formal elements (colour. composition. and perspective. for example); and the multiple narratives embedded in the individual images. layout. story structure. and cataloguing devices. The work of
Lutz and Collins underscores the relevancy of considering the image as mirror as well as window, not only in terms of what they reveal about the context that produced the photographer and publisher. but also what they reveal about the political context of the viewer. Lutz and
Collins offer a plethora of practical methods for coding. quanti&ing. and transmogrifying visual data to charts, tables. and graphs. In particular, the work of Lutz and Collins suggests coding
Chapter 3 ~bfethodologv page 90 techniques around issues of race, gender, and class. Collier's methodology includes interviewing with photographs, mapping social patterns. and developing household inventories.
Although all four models provided an exuemely helpful contest for developing a methodology for an analysis of the Digby County photographs, not all the methods used by the models were practical for this project. For example. because our analysis involved the raw data of the collection (the negatives), an examination of lay-out and story structure described by Lutz and Collins was not relevant. Likewise McKay's close scrutiny of a single image. a particularly effective strategy when offered as evidence to support a specific argument developed from multiples sources, was not applicable to a project based in emergent analysis. McKay's examination of the Mill Cove postcard demonstrated the importance of familiarity with the photographing conditions while Collier's use of photographs as discussion aids with informants offered a methodological strategy. However the approach of using key informants ultimately proved to be impractical for this study because of issues around consent.
The process of sifting through diverse research strategies ultimately ied to a methodology that draws on many models but is based on an underlying syllogism: photographs require interpretation; such interpretation occurs within a specific social context which influences the interpretation (and which must therefore be acknowledged); and. since all interpretations occur within a changing social context. no interpretation is closed. completed. or final. The analysis of
Digby County photographs is intended to explore the conditions of 'then' specifically as they relate to the conditions of 'now'. Thus the process follows two concurrent tracks: one concerned with the past. the other with the present. The methodology began, modestly enough, with an inventory of the collection.
Chapter 3 rMethodology page 9 I 3. Methodology used with the Digby County Collection
Description of the Collection
The Digby County collection contains 6,809 negatives which were produced. as Table I shows, with several different cameras of varying formats.
Table I: The Digby County Photographs. Number of Negatives by Camera Format
Camera Format Number of Negatives
120 format: 6X6cm 6X8cm 6X4cm
4 X 5 format:
35mm format: 476 five-negati ve strips 2.3 80
I
Total negatives
More than half of these images (3.599 negatives) were made with three medium format cameras. Medium format cameras use 120 roll film and produce negatives which. depending on the camera, range in size from 6 X 4 cm to 6 X 8 cm. Most of the medium format work of Digby
County was made with a Rolliflex camera which produces 6 X 6 cm square negatives (3.140 negatives); the remaining 120 work was made with a 6 X 8 camera (257 negatives) and a 6 X -I camera (202 negatives). Collier also used a Leica 35mm camera to produce 2.380 negatives (476 strips) and a 4 X 5 large format field camera which produced 830 negatives.
- - - Chapter 3 hlkthodology page 92 The technical quality of all this work is consistently high - well exposed, carefully composed, and accurately developed - but the images made with the medium and large format cameras are particularly striking because of the clarity and detail provided by the big cameras.
Contact sheets made from medium and large format negatives - unlike those from 35mm negatives - are easily accessible without the aid of a magnifying loupe. The large negatives provide researchers with an ease of access not possible with the 35mm work. particularly since most of the Digby County negatives have never been enlarged. The images made with medium and large format camera comprise approximately 23 of the total collection.
It is a point of interest that Collier used such a wide variety of camera formats. and that he chose to shoot certain scenes with several cameras. Each format has its own distinct characteristics: 5 jmm is a very fast and convenient camera whereas a 4 X 5 tends to be a cumbersome format. requiring a tripod. a black cloth. and extreme care in focusing and exposing.
A single sheet of film (measuring four inches by five inches) is inserted in the camera just before and removed immediately after an exposure is made. A 4 X 5 camera requires a considerably larger work space than a 35mm and. since it is difficult to be either unobtrusive or instantaneous with a 4 X 5 camera, the results tend to be formal particularly when compared to the more candid images created by a hand-held roll camera. The primary advantage of the 4 X 5 negative is the high degree of clarity, resolution, and detail. and the camera's distortion-correction facility. while the primary advantage of the 35mm is convenience. speed. and the low-profile it affords the photographer. The medium format cameras offer the advantages of roll film combined with acutance and detail oniy slightly less than that provided by the large negative. Variations within the medium format determines the shape of the images; 6 X 6 cameras produce square negatives
Chapter 3 Methodology page 93 while 6 X 8 and 6 X 4 cameras produce rectangular negatives. The variety of formats used by
John Collier in Digby County suggests a flexible working style coupled with an interest in equipment experimentation. His work with the Farm Security Administration also demonstrates diversity with camera format. When Mary Collier was asked in 1995 why John used a variety of camens, she responded with candour, "because he had them". Judging by the final tally of negatives, the 6 X 6 camera seems to have been his camera of choice.
John Collier shot his first photograph in Digby County in August 1950 and his last in
October 195 1. Aside from a period between January and June 195 1 which was spent in Ithaca. the Collier family (which at that time included John who was 37 in 1950. Mary who was 3 1. and their son Malcolm who turned two in .4ugust 1950) lived in Digby County during this time. For the last few months of their stay in Digby County. Mary was pregnant with their second child (of an eventual family of four sons) who was born in Ithaca in February 1 95ZL3.
Such a large photographic project requires meticulous record-keeping methods. Field notes were recorded in two types of books: ledger books which were organized by negative number beginning with #1 and ending with #I6350 and which recorded information about each negative: and minute books which were organized chronologically (beginning Monday. July 3 l.
1950 and ending Sunday. August 19. 195 1) and comprised John's field notes. The ledger books provide information about each negative: the location. the date. and brief descriptions of the subject matter. The minute books are journals in which John described his daily activities.
The record-keeping system used by the Colliers was based on the cataloguing method
As a memento of a significant time in the family's personal history, the Colliers' second child was given the unusual name of Vian. a name shared with an elder of Digby County whom Mary and John regarded with fondness and respect.
------Chapter 3 Merhodolog), page 94 developed by the Library of Congress for the Fann Security Administration images. Every medium and large format negative (aside from a small number that were destroyed because of technical problems) was given its own number recorded directly on the negative. In the case of the 35mm negatives each strip of five images was given a single number and the frame numbers provided a sub-set of digits. The negative numbers advance sequentially. These numbers do not consistently reflect chronological order because each of the formats was allotted a block of numbers. Thus within each block. the negative numbers advance chronologically. but scenes which were photographed with more than one camera produced negatives with widely disparate numbers. John Collier started shooting with all five formats in August 1950 and continued to use all five formats (with the exception of the 6 X 8 camera which he appeared to discontinue in
July 195 1) until October 195 1. Table I1 shows the relationship between the negative numbers. the camera format. and the time period during which the images were made.
Table 11: The Digby County Photographs. Negative number, Camera format. and Date of photographs
Negative number Camera format Time period 1 - 1000 Aug 1950 - NOVI950 1001 - 1717 Aug 19.50 - Jan 195 1 2001 - 2134 Aug 1950 - Nov 1950 2301 - 2489 Aug 1950 -Jan 1951 2501 - 3000 Nov 1950 -Jan 1951 3001 - 3191 Aug 1950-Jan 1951 400 1 - 405 1 Jan 1951 4101 - 5000 July 1951- Sept 1951 5001 - 5123 July 195 1 5151 - 5163 Oct 1951 5201 - 5500 Sept 1951-0ct 1951 550 1 - 5633 July 1951-0ct 1951 565 1 - 5992 Oct 1951 600 1 - 6255 June 1951 -0ct 1951 6301 - 6350 Oct 1951
Chapter 3 Methodofogy page 95 Before this analysis began, it was necessary to take steps to expedite the viewing of the
data. In April 1997 the 6,809 negatives which had been stored since 195 1 in single-negative
paper and glassine envelopes were moved to archival-quality clear polyethylene sleeve pages.
This was done to improve the storage conditions of the negatives and to facilitate the making of
contact images from the negatives". Contact sheets were then made from the negatives. The
contact prints produced by John and Mary Collier in 195 1 had been used as a research tool by the
researchers of the epidemiological project. In total. 4.577 images from the original contact prints
had been mounted on index cards which were organized by eleven geographic locations and
subdivided by subject matter. The index cards (which are included in the Digby County
photographs at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia) have captions describing the activities
depicted in the photographs. With the production of the contact sheets in 1997. it became
possible to view the complete collection of images in a chronological context while
simultaneously following Collier's tield notes. The 700 8 X 10 contact sheets made in 1997
include the total collection of 6.809 negatives and are organized numerically. With the contact
sheets completed. the task of developing a methodology for analysis could commence.
Analytical Methodology
The analytical activities began with an immersion in the visual data as a whole. There were extensive viewings of the collection. particularly of the contact sheets. but also the index
" Since the 1970s polyethylene sleeves have become the conventional storage method replacing paper and glassine envelopes which were widely used in the 1950s. The older sleeves have been shown to gradualiy leach harmful acids into the silver image. The use of polyethylene sleeves also facilitates the making of contact sheets since it is not necessary to remove the negatives from their sleeves to make a positive print. cards. ledger books. and minute books. Simultaneously two additional discovery strategies were employed: a literature review of conditions in the county; and numerous visits to the area for the expressed purpose of observing the conditions of present-day Digby County by studying the publicly accessible. publicly viewable landscape. The literature review generated a description of the history, geography. demography. sociology. and political and economic conditions (this description appears in Chapter 4); and the observing visits generated photographs of present-day
Digby County (samples of which appear in Chapter 6).
The 700 contact sheets of John Collier's photographs were carefully scrutinized tbr their social information. This penlsal generated a list of 40 descriptive codes which identified prominent visual features such as content. activities. and types of subjects. The list of codes appears in Table 111. Chosen because of their relevance to social and economic conditions. the codes are not necessarily statistically representative of the collection: some codes ( fishing. tbr example) can be found in many of the photographs. while other codes (an example is reading) appear in only a handful. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed to analysr the content of the photographs.
Three broad research themes were chosen to discuss the photographs: work. community. and landscape. Clearly these themes do not appear within the photographs as discrete and separate categories. They function rather as overlapping and connecting circles of information. which represent research areas with significance to this investigation of current social conditions.
The themes of work. community. and landscape offer an organizational device for discussing the photographs because they harmonize Collier's vision. Digby County's circumstances. and this researcher3 interests.
Chapter 3 hfethodolqp page 97 Simultaneously the research into the social and economic conditions of the 1950s and the
1990s revealed various social changes. These represent major shifts in the living and working conditions in Digby County in the almost 50 years between when the photographs were taken in
1950-5 L and when they were examined in 1997-98. Ten significant social change themes were identified; this list appears in Table IV. These themes share several features: They represent fluctuating and ongoing processes of change (as distinct from a single discrete event) which have general and widespread social impact within the county and which began before or during the
1950s and continue in the late 1990s.
Table 111: List of Codes
commercial signs dancing gravestones music housing radio weddings sports church suppers cards family meals transport camp meals stores animals churches schools women fishing men tish plants Black adults clam digging equipment repair logging Black adults at work boats cars boat- building hilies adults with children gardens children alone health road-building Collier family domestic labour calendars hiding from camera reading
Chapter f Methodology pcge 98 Table IV: Social Change Themes
GLobalization of the economy Collapse of the fishing industry Standardization of culture Changing role of women in the workforce Dismantling of segregation and racial barriers Involvement of government funds and regulations Capitalization/mechanizationof primary industries Changes in communications technology Changes in domestic labour technology Decline of farming
The photographic analysis was conducted by examining the living and working conditions of Digby County which appear in both research categories represented by Tables I11 and IV: They are visible in the photographs taken by John Collier in 1950-5 1. and they are discernible as having a connection to a social change theme significant to the 1990s.
The photographs of Digby County offer information that is virtually boundless. The most pressing methodological problem faced by this researcher was the difficulty of paring down the information provided by the photographs to a manageable level without losing significant details.
The process of distilling is inevitably inexact. But the lack of precision that results from working with an overload of visual data is more than compensated by the enormous capacity of the photographic images to be intricate. specific, and tangible with tremendous emotional force and the potential to awaken memories and stimulate dialogue. Photographs as artifacts have enormous power. There can be no doubt that an examination of the Digby County photographs in forthcoming years will uncover social information that has not been revealed in this present study. Photographs may foreshadow the future but the process of reading images is great1y
- - Chapter 3 Merhodo~ogv page 99 ameliorated as the future becomes known. Their real value lies in helping us to recognize and
understand the present.
Chapter 3 Methodology page I00 Chapter Four The Digby County Collection
1. Background
The photographic collection of the Public Archives of Nova Scotia is stored on the fifth tloor of the provincial archives which is located in a red brick building on the campus of
Dalhousie University in Haiifax. While the building itself is open to the general public. access to the fifth flour is limited to accredited researchers with permission from the photographic curator and only when a staff member is present. Among the collection on the fifth tloor is an extensive two-year photographic documentary study of a county located in Nova Scotia which was produced in the early 1950s and donated to the Public Archives in 1988. The photographic study which consists of almost 7.000 negatives is stored in a metal file cabinet occupying a back comer of an area of the fifth tloor where the restricted holdings are stored. The images comprise a small part of a very large epidemiological study.
The epidemiological study was developed as an in-depth longitudinal examination of the sociocultural conditions of a specific region. The project was designed as an investigation of the relationship between the psychiatric health of individuals and the social health of a community.
The design phase of the project began in 1948 and fieldwork commenced in the summer of 1950 with the arrival of a wide array of social scientists including sociologists. anthropologists. statisticians. psychiatrists, and epidemiologists. Among the team of academically trained researchers who descended on Digby County was a documentary photographer. The rationale
Chapter 4 The Digby Cmn~Collecrion puge lo? for including a photographer in the research team can be found in the newly emerging perspective that the visual data provided by photographs offered resourceful anthropologists a supplementary method of acquiring information for analysis. Gregory Bateson and Margaret
Mead had produced a ground-breaking model for visual anthropology with their Bdinrsr
Character in 1942. The photographer who was chosen for the Digby County project. John
Collier Jr.. had previously collaborated with anthropologist Anibal Buitron on an experimental ethnographic study of the Otavalo Indians in Ecuador which combined photographs and text in a visually compelling (though little known and quick1y remaindrred) book. The .41irrkming Luiley
(1949). Collier's credentials as a photographic social scientist were further bolstered by his involvement in the celebrated photographic project known as the Farm Security Administration project which documented the Depression-era conditions of small-town America. Among his
FSA projects was a series of images taken in August 1942 of an American Acadian cornmunit) in Maine near the New Brunswick border. a community very similar to the French Shore of
Digby County (Doty. 199 1 ).
The site selected tbr the epidemiological study was a small rural county in Nova Scotia which met the project's somewhat broad criteria. These included distinct geographic boundaries and marked contrasts of community types within these boundaries. particularly in their degree of social integration. Another feature of Digby County which made it desirable as a research site was the presence of two long established and deeply rooted linguistic-cultural groups (French and English) which facilitated the comparison of cultural patterns as factors of psychiatric health.
The Digby County site conveniently offered to the researchers the cultural distinctiveness of an extraneous community and the physical proximity to the project's home base at Cornell
- - -- Chapter 4 The Digby Cortnry Cullecrion page 102 University in Ithaca. New York.
The overall intention of the research project was to compare integrated and disintegrated communities by using indices such as poverty. high frequency of crime. delinquency. broken homes. migration, cultural confusion. hostility. and weak leadership. To test the hypothesis that social disintegration within communities fosters psychiatric disorder within individuals. the communities of Digby County were closely examined in terms of their sociocultural conditions which were then cross-referenced to the incidence of psychiatric disorder among the population.
Recognizing that episodes of psychiatric disorder are sometimes unreported. the project was designed to include those who had not sought medical assistance. The result was an epidemiological study that was comprehensive and multidisciplinary. The goal was "to penetrate and understand all aspects of life .... to make observation both wide and deep and so miss nothing" (Hughes rr rrl.. 1960. p.7).
In the effort to "miss nothing". a wide range of research techniques was utilized - statistical analysis. surveys. key informant interviews. and particularly. participant observation.
The result was a close engagement with the community. described by the researchers as a two- way. mutually nourishing relationship.
Members of our team have variously lived as neighbors. have grown gardens. cut timber from their own woodlots. fished on the bays. hauled lobsters. held offices in societies. taught nursery school. participated in the weddings, christenings. and funerals of friends and in turn had these friends share with us our own joys in new marriage and the birth of babies, and our sadnesses and fear when confronting sickness and death. We have been counselors and friends. and we have also been counseled and befriended when this was sorely needed. (Hughes ei ol.. 1960, p.7)
Clearly this type of longitudinal examination of the psychiatric health of a community. which is based on data of an extremely personal and delicate nature, requires that the community
------Chapter 4 The Digby County Collection page / 03 have complete and continuing confidence in the researchers' commitment to professional
detachment and respect for the subjects' dignity and privacy. The protection of the identities of
the research participants is considered to be a key aspect of this confidence. Confidentiality is
seen as an essential component of the project's intrinsic design. This is the central stated reason
why the photographs have not been widely shown. The photographs reveal very little
information that might appear to be about the emotional health of specif c individuals: most were
taken in public or quasi-public sites (such as church halls. iishing boats, stores. and schools).
While the photographs appear devoid of content that would compel privacy. the research contest
in which they were produced has resulted in restrictions on their general accessibility. The
photographs are now part of the collection of the Public Archives of Nova Scotia. The
conditions of the 1988 donation stipulate that reproduction of the images requires the permission
of the principal researcher. whose practice has been to maintain careful control over the use of
the photographs. Although permission to reproduce sample photographs as part of this
dissertation was sought. it was not granted by the principal researcher who cited concerns around
privacy. confidentiality. and the difficulties in locating the subjects of the original photographs in
order to obtain their consent.
The fif y-year anniversary of the completion of the photographic component of the
project will occur in 200 1. In 2005" hi1 ownership and responsibility for the use of the collection passes to the Public Archives of Nova Scotia. When the Public Archives acquires absolute ownership of the collection. it is possible that the commitment to public accessibility
The original end-date for the conditions placed on the 1988 donation was the year 1000. but a five- year extension was subsequently requested and granted.
-- Chapter 4 The Digby Cutm~Collection page 104 may result in the increased usage of the photographs under selected conditions. As time passes and the numbers of the photographs' subjects who are still living dwindles. the restrictions on their use are likely to decrease. Ironically this means that the photographs will become more accessible when there are fewer individuals who can remember - and speak about from first-hand knowledge - the conditions they depict.
The project's research findings were published in a three-volume series. published in
1959, 1960. and 1963. Not surprisingly. the project concluded a clear association between community disintegration and the prevalence of psychiatric disorder. The report on the study's findings details the community factors which are associated with psychiatric disorder. the symptom patterns which are implicated. and the types of individuals who tend to be at risk. The aspects o~socioculturaldisintegration most clearly implicated in psychiatric disorder are identified as "those that affect the achievement of love. recognition. spontaneity. and the sense of belonging to a moral order" (Dorothea Lcighton er d..1963. p.388). According to a 1963 grant application by the researchers. the project concluded that those communities whose social. economic, cultural. and geographic factors are marked by "contlicts. confusion and inadequately perceived opportunities" produce individuals who "are likely to be impaired to a relatively large extent" (Alexander Leighton. 1963. p.2).
The connection between community disintegration and psychiatric disorder within this research site has been tracked over the years as the epidemiological project continued to collect information in 1970 and again in 1992. The photographic data collection. however. largely ended in October of 195 1. A few photographs were taken during a smaller version of the project which took place in 1964. but these photographs (of which only a small number of commercially
Chapter 4 The Digby County Coikction page f 05 produced colour prints remain among the Public Archives collection) appear random and lack the
vision. consistency. and professional competency that John Collier's work demonstrates.
Only a very few of the Collier photographs of Digby County have been seen in a public
forum. A temporary exhibit was displayed in Digby County in the mid- 1950s. Nine images
were included in a report of the study's findings (Hughes rt d..1960). Collier's own book.
k'iszml Anthropology: Photogrcrphv crs tr Resecrrch Merhod (which was tirst published in 1967 by
Holt. Rinehart and Winston. and then re-published by the University of New Mexico Press in a
1986 edition that had been revised and expanded by Collier with his son Malcolm Collier). while
including a wide variety of ethnographic photographs by both Colliers. contained only one image
of Digby County in the first rdition and two in the second edition. The photograph that appears
in both editions (presented in both versions as a two-page spread) is a compelling image
depicting a large family gathering at an outdoor church supper against the background of a
substantial rural home. In the photograph. the house (which is shown on page 206 as it appeared
in 1998) with multiple dormers and numerous mullioned windows functions both as a unifying
backdrop and a visual metaphor for the community. simultaneously conveying diversity and cohesiveness. The 1986 edition offered just one additional image from Digby County. a
nondescript landscape. The function of the photographs in both books as well as in the three-
volume report of the research findings is primarily an illustrative one, providing visual relief to the text; the images are not anaiysed within the context of the Digby County research findings.
The overwhelming majority of the images have never been enlarged: contact prints were viewed by the researchers as part of their study data. The primary function of the photographs for the Digby County project has been as a research aid for the social scientists whose sights were closely focused on the research questions relating to psychiatric health. Over the years. the epidemiological researchers have shown sample images at conferences and in classrooms: and. from time to time, various historic societies and museums have received permission to use Digb)
County images in exhibits for decorative purposes. The potential of the photographs as an analytical tool for community education has not been investigated.
In 1995 Mary Collier. the photographer's wik and co-worker. who now lives in
California, took on the task of organizing the negatives for the Public Archives of Nova Scotia.
In 1997 this dissertation researcher produced a complete set of contact sheets of the negatives. with the assistance of a small grant of photographic materials donated by the epidemiological project's principal investigator. Beyond these activities. the negatives have remained virtually untouched since the 1950s. stored in the same small metal tile drawers. first in the research site field office. later in the project director's university office. and finally on the fifth floor of the
Public Archives building in an area closed to the general public. Like a lost twin. the photographs await reconnection with the community whose experiences they mirror: like a time capsule. they await interpretation within the contemporary context.
2. John Collier Jr.
The American photographer who was responsible for producing the Digby County photographs played an instrumental role in the development of documentary photography in
North America. John Collier Jr. was one of eleven photographers hired by the Depression-era
Roosevelt government to contestualize and popularize New Deal legislation. Known
Chapter 4 The Digby Counp Collection page I07 collectively as the Farm Security Administration photographic (FSA) project. these images represent a massive documentary portrait of rural and small-town America during the 1930s-
Many of them are instantly familiar to modem viewers as visual icons of the Depression and are widely credited with establishing the assumptions and conventions of documentary photography.
The overriding assun~ptionof documentary photography is that the photograph has the capacity to be an authentic representation of reality. Because of this capacity. the camera can be used to reveal obscured esperirnces and events, and to communicate these experiences and rvents to others. The carnrr:! is viewed as having the potential to be an effective communication vehicle conveying ideas across distance. across generations. and across cultural and class differences. According to the photographic discourse as it was shaped by the FSA experiment. the conventions of documentary photography operate as a series of fluctuating and converging premises. These premises are based on the idea that the essential function of documentary photography is to bear witness for those who are depicted. The photographic style is a straightforward. unpretentious. and unaffected one in which the image is presented as a window into the lives of the subjects. The content of the documentary image is primarily social. Human relations are perceived to be multi-faceted. dynamic. mutable. synergetic. and determined by a complex intersection of economic. political. cuitural. and social conditions. Among documentary photographers there is a profound commitment to liberal. humanistic ideals. such as justice. equality, and the concept of commonality and universality of the human experience.
These ideals impact not only on the content of documentary imagery but also on the forms. resulting in strategies such as formalistic composition. low camera angles, visual references to classical and religious themes (such as the Madonna and Child), and an emphasis on the details
Chapter 4 The Digby Cuting*Collection page 108 of ordinary life. These strategies have the overall effect of affirming a sense of respect towards the subject. There is also a strong moral sense embedded in the photographs: concerns about justice and fairness are part of the content and the form. -4s an extension of the idealism and the moralism suggested by the imagery. there is a sense of optimism. Although the subject matter is sometimes grim. the mood usually candid. and the content often ordinary and everyday. the images convey hope. Respect for human dignity is perceived to be both desirable and possible.
John Collier's photographs of Digby County reflect these conventions of documentary photography. But his sensibility was also shaped by the scientific context of the Digby County project as well as his own anthropological bent. The son of a Commissioner of Indian Affairs
(John Collier Sr.). Collier grew up in close proximity to Native reservations in southwestern
United States. His experience with the Digby County project led to a life-long involvement in anthropological photography. His book. Iri.sil.rrtrl.-ln~hropoiqv. which in 1967 was dedicated to the principal researcher of the epidemiological study and to FSA director Roy Stryker? attempts to bridge the gap between photography and anthropology by describing how the camera can be used as a research tool.
The basic premise of Collier's book is that photography has the potential to extend the ability to observe with depth. breadth. and accuracy. He argues that. unlike the human observer. the mechanical eye sees and records without fatigue. observing more than is sought. recording more than is perceived by the human rye. While he acknowledges the camera's limitations.
'' The dedication of the 1986 edition is n slightly modified version of the 1967 dedication: The work is dedicated to the principal investigator of the epidemiological research project and to ethnographer Edward T. Hall; the late Roy E. Stryker is given 'special acknowledgement'.
Chapter 4 The Digb-v Couny Collection page 109 which. he says, reflect "the limitations of those who use them" (1986. p. 10). Collier believes that
the photograph can communicate across cultures and disciplines. "The nonverbal language of
photorealism is a language that is most understood interculturally and cross culturally ...Any
number of analysts can read the same elements in exactly the same manner. To be sure this takes
training, but so does the reading of maps and bacteriological slides" (p. lo). The acquisition of
visual literacy. Collier says. is the key to accuracy in visual anthropology.
This life-long interest in anthropology is evident in Collier's photographic style. Unlike
other photographers (including other FS A photographers). Collier produced imagery that tended
to be understated. choosing to depict incidents that repeat and endure rather than incidents that
encompass the peak of action. the ordinary moment rather than 'the decisive moment'. Hank
O'Neal, in his thoughtful book about the FSA photographers Showti C'ision ( 1976). describes
Collier's approach:
Collier made no effort to photograph the dramatic. He ...p roduced very straightfonvard photographs. primarily of people as they went about their work ...The best of his work adheres very closely to his view that the undramatic will show what was really going on. (p.288)
The pull within John Collier towards the scientific approach to understanding human
behaviour was matched by the push towards a creative sensibility and training. Collier was not
able to complete his schooling beyond the elementary level because of serious learning disabilities. At the age of 12. he was apprenticed to Maynard Dixon. a well-known painter: and
for extended periods Collier lived with Dixon and Dixon's wife. photographer Dorothea Lange.
According to Collier's son Malcolm ( 1 994). his interest in social action. initially instilled by his own family, was reinforced by the Dixon-Lange family; and it was this interest, combined with
Chapter 4 The Digby Cormp Collection page I 10 the increasing need for reliable employment. which drew him gradually away from painting
towards photography which he learned from Lange. His first project - a study of a Mexican-
American sheep camp - was brought to the attention of Roy Stryker by Dorothea Lange (one of
FSA's best known photographers) and eventually he was hired by the FSA.
As a government photo ympher. Collier photographed coal-miners and Amish farmers in
Pennsylvania. Portuguese tishermen in Rhode Island. Acadians in Maine. and Pueblo Indians in
Taos. New Mexico. Following a war-time stint with the merchant marine. he followed Roy
Stryker when Stryker moved from the government to Standard Oil. photographing in the
Canadian Arctic and in South America. After working with Anibal Buitron in Ecuador and on the epidemiological project in Digby County, Collier's focus became increasingly fixed on visual ethnography. His work with anthropological photography continued in Peru and Alaska and at various sites in the American Southwest. In the 1960s he began a teaching career at the
California School of Fine Ans and later the San Francisco State University where he taught visual anthropology and cross-cultural education. It was during this period that he wrote C'iszrcrl
.-fnthropologvwhich became a landmark text of tieldwork methodology. Malcolm Collier ( 1994) describes his father's book as "a pragmatic guide to the systematic use of photography as a tool to record and analyze cultural and social circumstances" (pp. 18- 19). During the 1970s John
Collier continued his documentary photographic work with motion picture (as well as still images) of Native Indians in nual and urban settings in California. He retired from teaching in
1989 and died in Costa Rica in February 1992 at the age of 78.
John Collier's life was profoundly affected by an automobile accident that occurred when he was seven years old. Among other injuries he sustained a fractured skull which caused
Chapter 4 The Digby County Collection page I I1 permanent neurological impairments. The most evident and immediate of these impairments was a serious hearing loss. Other neurological problems were diagnosed more slowly over the years that followed the accident: they eventually included severe dyslexia, learning disabilities. and difficulties integrating auditory information. The impact of these impairments on his photographic work is complex. His wife. Mary Collier. believes that his photographic skills were enhanced by the hearing deficiency because auditory distractions were reduced (personal communication, 1995). Like the keen hearing that is often reported among those who are visually impaired. Mary feels that John's sense of sight was strengthened by his hearing loss. A former student (who now teaches photogaphy at an art college in California) remembers that
Collier's effective teaching style was characterized by a distinctive intensity and attentiveness which she attributes to his hearing loss and perceptual impairment (personal communication.
1997). According to this former student. Collier displayed an unusual preciseness in the way that he absorbed and conveyed information which was experienced by students as an indication of
Collier's respect for and absorption in the visual world. Edward T. Hall suggests in his foreword to the I986 edition of C'is~icd.-lnthr~poh~gy that the damage to Collier's left cranial hemisphere
(which usually bears the primary responsibility for the language functions of the brain). occumng at a such a young age when the brain was still developing, promoted a compensatory development in the right hemisphere. the section of the brain which typically has a greater involvement in visual functions. This resulted. Hall believes. in photographs with "an auditory quality". Moreover. Hall opines that the disruption of the neurologic4 function of auditory integration that Collier experienced predisposed him to study the nonverbal content of culture with keen interest and to quickly embrace the idea that vision is a learned skill dependent on a
Chapter 4 The Digby Cotmy Coiiection page 1 I2 culturally determined system of codes.
While John Collier was an acclaimed photographer. a published author. an influential
anthropologist. and an award-winning university professor. his language skills (spoken and
written) and his mathematical dexterity - a necessary component of chemical measurements and
exposure calculations in the era of mix-your-own darkroom chemistry and non-automatic camera
and flash equipment - remained weak throughout his life. His personality as evidenced by his
photographs. his writing sty le. and assessments by students. colleagues. and family members was
characterized by an unusual blend of innovative intrllec t. personal generosity towards o thrrs.
humility about his own abilities. and driving determination. Virtually all of his photographic
work displays his strong interest in cultural vitaiity. diversity. and identity. which he viewed. in
Malcolm Collier's words. as "the roundation of human experience" ( 1994. p. 19).
One of the many unexpected by-products of Collier's handicaps was the extensive
involvement of his wife in his photographic projects. Mary Trumbull Collier recognized that her
husband's talents needed extensive support. She worked in Digby County in an unofficial but
essential role assisting with the film processing and the ficld-notes. In 1957 she and John
produced a detailed mock-up for a book of the Digby County photographs entitled Phorogrup!y fbr .4nthropoiogy. Although the book was not published. the manuscript (a copy of which is
included in the collection at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia) is clearly a precursor to the later
book, Visml Anthropology, published 10 years later?
?' While the manuscript for Plrotograplyjiw .4ntlwopologv was co-authored by John Collier Jr. and Mary Trumbull Collier. the authorship of Visurrl Anrhropdogy is attributed solely to John Collier. The revised second edition of Viszrol.4n~hropologvwas co-authored by John and Malcolm Collier.
Chapter 4 The Digby Cmny Collection puge 113 Unlike Vislrirl Anthropulogy which was primarily text-driven and featured only 12 images
(just one from Digby County), the manuscript for Photography for Anthropology synthesized image and text - the mock-up shows 335 photographs of Digby County. The 1967 edition of
C'iszral ..lnrhrup,pology acknowledged Mary Collier's contribution to the research:
The present volume was written in editorial collaboration with Mary Trum bull Collier. who participated in many of the field studies cited. 'and who made the statistical analysis and charts for the photographic study of Indian relocation. (p.xv)
Husband and wife collaborations. although relatively rare among photographers". are not unusual in anthropological work. Some notable examples are Gregory Bateson and Margaret
Mead. George and Louise Spindler. John and Patricia Hitchcock. Murray and Rosalie Wax. and
Alexander and Dorothea Leighton. As Rosalie Wax ( 1979) has described. tieidwork projects
(which depend on family support to establish rapport. facilitate social interactions. and assist with ongoing access) make it difficult to separate with absolute precision the personai and professional aspects of life.
Such collaborcltions have a parallel within the Digby County communities where the tishing and farming industries require the efforts of all family members. and especially the adult members. in the completion of tasks that are sometimes separate. sometimes overlapping. and sometimes interchanged. As MacDonald and Connelly (1990b) discovered in their 1984 study of labour division in a Nova Scotian fishing community. the women's tasks in such collaborations.
Two celebrated esceptions are Margaret Bourke-White and Erskine Caldwell. and W. Eugene Smith and Aileen Mioko Smith. Bourke-White and Cddwell collaborated on a 1937 best-seller You Have Seen Their Faces which depicted tenant farming through photos and prose. The Smiths produced a photograph/text expose in 1973 on the effects of mercury pollution on the inhabitants of the small Japanese fishing town of Minamata.
Chaprer 4 The Digby Counr): Collection page l I4 particularly in rural and underdeveloped economies. are often unpaid. hidden. minimized. and discounted. Thus. like her Digby County counterparts. Mary Collier's contribution. while veq evident within the family". is not visible in the public world. Although she was not paid for her work on the Digby County project. her tasks included processing film. washing negatives. making contact prints. computing flash and development calculations. keeping the record books. discussing ideas, and generally assisting with all stages of the photographic project. In an interview conducted in 1995. Mary (then in her 70s) displayed an exceptional memory for names. dates. and places. a keen interest in intellectual pursuits and social justice issues. an advrnturesomc and confident spirit. (I brisk. straightforward demeanour. an unusually strong physical constitution. and an cxellrnt grasp of photographic techniques. These qualities must have made her an ideal working colleague for Digby County's photographer.
Although the Colliers did not return to Nova Scotia for longer than very brief visits after
195 1. the 15-month period that they spent in Digby County had enormous personal impact on their lives. Mary describes it as a pivotal experience which allowed John to make the transition from government work and freelance photography to the academic world. He continued to work on the Digby County negatives and he produced a photographic exhibit that was shown throughout the region in the mid-1950s. It was his work in Digby County that challenged John to develop a methodology for the use of photography in anthropological research and that eventually led to his book VimdAnrhropology, which Malcolm Collier terms his father's "most
" Malcolm Coliier ( 1994) portrays his parents as an intellectual and professional team. He says that Mary was "the record keeper. editor, critic. and interpreter who enabled John to articulate in more conventional intellectual forms the perspectives and insights that were already being reflected in his photography" (p. 13).
- Chapter J The Digby Corrnty Collection page I 15 important accomplishment" ( 1993. p. 19).
John Collier's primary interest in photography. as indicated in his book. was on "the
exploratory function of visual evidence" (1986. p. 170) with a secondary interest in photographs
as illustrations, and. despite the enormous aesthetic appeal of his images. very little apparent
interest in the aesthetic qualities of photography as art? Collier recognized and apparently
accepted that an anthropoloyical orientation towards photography would inevitably mean that the
photographs would not always be exhibited. Acknowledging that "this separation of the image
from the ultimate product may be a wrench to many photographers". he explicitly states that his
own interest is tirmly immersed in social analysis even if it means that the photographs go
unseen. "The photographs may often have no place in the final product of the research. except as
occasional illustrations" (p. 170).
Mary Collier. however. expresses an alternate point of view. In a 1995 interview. she
indicated a strong interest in having John's work srm: "I want then1 plastered all over the walls.
I am so fond of so many of those pictures." Mary's desire for books and public exhibits goes
beyond appreciating the photographs for their aesthetic qualities. although they are. as Mary said.
"gorgeous"; she sees their potential for community education. Pointing to the work that has been
done with the FSA photographs (specifically citing Doty. 1991), Mary Collier noted that the
combination of oral histories and photographs works well as travelling exhibits particularly when concentrated within a specific community locale. She argued that the Digby County photographs
''Despite John's apparent disinterest in the purely aesthetic aspects of his work. according to Malcolm Collier (1994) his father "drew great pleasure from the fact that use of the camera as tool could also produce great photographs" ( p. 1 9).
-- - Chapter I The Digbv Cotmy Colkctiun page 116 not only can but "shodtl make a difference to the communitiesJ1(personal communication. 1995).
John Collier placed a high value on the social analysis potential of photographs. b%lrd
.+fnthropoZogy( 1986) ends with a word of warning to photographers which resonates with special poignancy when considering his Digby County work. "The most deadly end to all our efforts is
the photographic file that sits unused" (p.38). Underscoring the special contribution of
photographs because they are "open-ended. challenging you on each inspection" (p.238). and arguing the importance of integrating photographic data with verbal data. Collier urges anthropology photographers to "keep dive the cultural moment".
The photographs taken by John Collier in Digby County depict working conditions. recreational activities. cultural and religious events. social relationships. housing conditions. and the natural landscape. The project's invrs~iyationof the association between community disintegration and psychiatric disorder was based on a broad understanding of the sociocultural conditions that affect emotional and psychiatric health. Because of the sweeping design developed by the initiators of the cpidemiological research project. the Collier photographs depict virtually everything that was available as visual data - work tools and sites. religious icons. clothing. architectural features of the housing stock. gestures and facial expressions.
Because the photographs were token by an experienced professional documentary photographer with a high level of curiosity and compassion for the lives of the people he was photographing, the images are consistent1y probing. creatively revealing. and technically strong.
As a result of these two detining features: the project's broad mandate and the photographer's profound sensibilities. the images are an extraordinarily rich source of information. The third factor which adds to their strength, power. and analytical potential lies in Digby County itself.
Chuprer J The Digby ComeCollecrion page I I -
3. Digby County
Geography and Administrative Organization
Digby County is located in the Maritime province of Nova Scotia in eastern Canada. One of 18 counties that comprise Nova Scotia. Digby County is situated in the southwestern corner of the province. Shaped roughly like a triangle with a straggling ribbon of land running along its ocean-fiontage side. it contains approximately 976 square miles. The ribbon consists of a long. narrow peninsula (Digby Neck) and two tiny islands (Long island and Brier Island). each shaped like sequentially smaller cigars. extending in a row that runs parallel to the rest of the county.
Separated from the mainland by a narrow bay of water. Digby Neck and the islands are a continuation ohmountain ridge that projects from the mainland. follows the southwesterly sloping coastline of the county. and stretches like a. long bony finger towards the Atlantic Ocmn.
Life in the county is primarily oriented towards the sea. The sea and the undulating 200- mile shoreline sustains the county. Traditionally the coast has provided the basis for most of the county's economic activities in the tbrm of fishing. fish-processing. boat-building. tourism. and transportation. which have been supplemented by tbrestry and farming. The shore is lined with wooden sheds filled with nets and fishing gear and wharves that are in varying degrees of disrepair. Most inhabitants of Digby County (the 1996 population was 20.500) live within a few miles of the coast. primarily in sinall tishing villages and towns. The 199 1 census indicates that
87.4% of the population of Digby County live in non-farm. non-urban settings. Because the coast is the location of the region's principal resources (lobster. scallops. herring, Irish moss. and groundfish). the population is clustered along the shoreline with a secondary strip of scattered
Chapter 4 The Digby County Collecrion page I I9 settlements and houses within five miles inland. In addition to the fishery opportunities provided by the sea, the best agricultural land is located near the coast.
Most of the land surface of the county is rocky and marshy. According to a soil survey produced by the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture (Hichley et d..1962). 72% of the land is unsuited for agricultural use - too stony. too shallow. too acidic. and too poorly drained for crops other than forest. In 199 1 there were only 106 farms in the county occupying a total acreage of less than 16.000. These hrms supported a population of 360. 80% of the farms were smaller than 240 acres (54% less than 69 acres) and only 800 acres produced crops.
The faming statistics in the period that John Collier was photographing reveal a very different picture. The 195 1 census shows that Digby County had 1.303 occupied farms with a farm population of 6.985 (35% of the county's population) and a total area of 128.749 acres
(108.753 unimproved land). The farms in 195 1 tended to be slightly smaller than those in 199 1
(9 1% less than 140 acres &md5 1% less than 69 acres) but the overall crop-producing acreage was
1 1.612 acres. The chief crops in 195 I were hay and grass. About 77% of the field crop was in hay; the next most prevalent crop was oats at 6%. followed by potatoes at 5%. About 93 acres of vegetables - cabbage. carrots. beans. peas. corn. tomatoes. beets. lettuce. and cauliflower - were grown in the county in 195 1. mainly in small gardens of an acre or less. Virtually all the Farms in Digby County in 195 1 were owner-occupied and free of mortgage. as they were in 199 1.
The definitive description of the Mari times as a region of small towns and villages
(McCann. 1987) clearly applies to Digby County. The county's only incorporated town is the county seat of Digby with a 1996 population of 2.199 (approximately 10% of the county). There are 29 villages with a population of more than 250. The county is divided into two
Chapter 4 The Digb-v Cum5 Cullrcriun pup? 1-70 administrative municipalities of virtually equal land mass and population size - Clare and Digby.
The present-day municipality of Digby (which includes the town of Digby). is occupied
predominantly by English-speaking descendants of Loyalists. who inhabit small villages
clustered around coves. while the second municipality in the southwest comer consists of a
distinctively contiguous chain of villages strung along the coast adpopulated primarily by
Acadians. an area that is known as the French Shore. The political division between the two
municipalities corresponds roughly to a linguistic division between Acadians and English-
speakers. The Acadinns of Clare comprise 45% of the population of Digby County. The
municipality of Clare is the largest Acndian region in the province both in size and population
density. The area is one of only two census tracts in the province where French is the majority
mother tongue (the other Acadian census tract is separated from Digby County by a distance of
600 kilometres) and one of only five where over a third of the population are French speakers
(blillward. I98 I ).
The municipality of Diyby incliidrs the peninsula Digby Neck and the two islands. Brier
Island. a tiny dot of land at the outer edge of the elongated ridge. consists of 2.200 acres of rock
and has a population of 350 people. Long Island has an elongated shape with Ferry service at
both ends, connecting it to Brier Island on one end and Digby Neck (and the mainland) on the
other. Long Island contains 7.600 acres and is the permanent residence of approximately 700
people.
The county has a humid. temperate climate. buffered from extremes of temperature in
both summer and winter. Precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year with a mean annual average of 40.6 inches (Hichley rr d..1962). Fog frequently appears in the coastal
Chapter J The Digby Colrnty Coilficrion page i21 communities particularly during the summer months. Another distinctive aspect of life in the county is the tide which is unrelentingly assertive and clamorous. Some of the highest tides in the world can be found here. and the activity of the tide is a contributing factor to the presence of the area's diverse and copious marine life. It is sometimes said that geography determines economy and economy determines history. but there are few places that demonstrate this more aptly than Digby County.
History of Settlement
The population of Mi'kmaqs within the province in the prr-contact period is estimated to have been approximately 10.000 ( Millward. 198 I ). By 185 1 their numbers had dwindled to u disastrous nadir of 1 .O56. primarily concentrated in separate and segregated communities. In
1940 the federal government attempted to consolidate the Mi'kmaqs into two provincial reserves through relocation (McGee. 1978). The relocation dfon was eventually abandoned in the mid-
1950s but it nevertheless resulted in a reduction of the number of occupied reserves within the province - From 38 in 1940 to 15 by 197 1 - including the Bear River Indian Reserve which straddles Digby County and its nrighbouring county. In 195 1 the population of the Bear River
Reserve was 400: the 199 1 census reported 55. a tiny proportion of the provincial Mi'kmaq population of 14,475.
The first European settlements within the province were established by Acadians in the mid-1 600s in an area close to present-day Digby County. By 1750 there were at least 10.000
Acadians living in mainland Nova Scotia (Ross & Deveau. 1992). Expelled from the province
Chapter J The Digbv Cuzmty Collrc~ion page !22 by the Grand Derongrment3'. returning Acadians reclaimed the area in the 1760s and 1770s.
although much of the best land had already been appropriated by New England Planters. The
earliest record of an Acadian presence in Digby County occurred in 1756 when a small group of
refugees hid on an island in a cove. In 1768.30 Acadian families who had been deported to
Massachusetts from a nrighbouring county in 1755 were granted a Wkilometre stretch of shore-
line located in Digby County in what is now the municipality of Clare. Further expansion along
the Clare coast took place after 1785 by the second generation of post-Expulsion Acadians. By
1 803. ihere were I .OSO Acadims 1 iviny dong the Clare coast of Dig by County (Ross &
Deveau3'. 1992).
The European settlement of Digby County was primarily achieved by the combined efforts of Acadians and immigrant Americans. Approximately 35.000 American Loyalists.
including significant numbers of Black Loyalists. arrived in the province during the period around the American War of Independence. These arrivals represented three times the pre- existing population (Clairmont & Wirn. 1978) which had been profoundly depleted by the
Expulsion. The 1767 census (which provides a demographic profile of the province afier the
Expulsion and before the War of Independence) shows a provincial population of 1 1.779
The deportation of Acadians between 1755 and 1763 is referred to in English as the Espulsion and in French as the Grmd Dermtgenw~rf(the Great Upheaval). It was an ovenvhelmingly traumatic event in which the entire French-speaking population of the Atlantic region (except for the area now known as Cape Breton, which at the time was claimed by France) was ordered deported by the English colonial rulers. Acadians were dispersed either through forced banishment or coerced relocation. Many hid and wandered for years to escape removal.
" J. Alphonse Deveau. an Acadian historian. was one of 17 interviewers who worked on the epidemiological research project in 1 952. His master's thesis. "Patterns of Acculturation of Acadian Descent People in Bristol". was accepted at Lava1 University in 1953.
Chapter 4 The Digby Corrn~tColfec[ion puge /23 (Millward, 198 l), half of which (5,969) was of American origin.
It is likely that the population of Digby County in the early 18th century included Black
inhabitants as soldiers. free labourers. indentured servants. and slaves. since there are many
reports of'B1acks in nearby areas in contemporary census records. ship lists. and other documents
(States. 1986). The Black population no doubt increasrd after the Expulsion of 1755 as New
England Planters who settled the areas vacated by the Acadians were frequently accompanied by
Black 'servants' (the polite term favoured by the British to refer to a range of relationships based
on economic coercion including indentured servants as well as slaves). Although the 1767
provincial census reported only 10 1 Blacks (Millward. 198 1 ). including 58 in Halifax County.
Clairmont and Magill ( 1974) estimate much higher numbers. They suggest that prior to the
Loyalist immigration Blacks comprised brrrveen 3% and 5% of the provincial population
(approximately 360 to 600 individuals)". They ary ue that there were as many as 500 slaves as
well an indeterminate number of ti-tzc Blacks.
Whatever the precise tally of Blncks living in Nova Scotia before 1776. there is no doubt that their numbers were substantially increased during the American War of Independence when
4.000 Black Loyalists came to Nova Scotia (Pachai. 1990). of whom approximately 3.000 were
free. Black arrivals were settled in segregated communities. frequently on extremely poor land. including sections of Digby County. by the colonial government who had promised land to the
" The confusion over the counting of Nova Scotian Blacks is a racially charged issue which continues to sully modem census reports. Henry ( 1973). Clairmont and Wien (1 978). and Millward (198 1 ) point out that inconsistencies in the methods used for reporting race corn bined with poor census techniques (including omitting some Black communities) have resulted in an historic pattern of under-counting of Blacks. a long-standing phenomenon that they argue is most easily demonstrated in the 196 1 and 197 1 census records.
Chapter 4 The Digby Coun~vColkcrion page I24 Loyalists in exchange for their opposition to the American revolutionaries. In 1792 approximately one-third of the Black population of the province ( 1,200 individuals) left for
Sierra Leone because of their dissatisfaction with the local conditions". Their places were soon taken by 2.000 Black rehigees from the War of 18 12. Some of the new arrivals were given land in Digby County which had been previously abandoned because of its agricultural unsuitability.
The I87 1 census recorded 7.105 Blacks within the province (Campbell. 1978).
Despite several mass c.uoduses by the new settlers (both Black and Caucasian) in the late
18th century which were provoked by the elimination of initial government rations. delays in the settling of land claims. and dissatisfaction with the conditions. the population of the county grew very quickly during the 19th cmtury. reaching 17.037 by 1871". By the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Digby County had formed a stable cultural identity based on an ethnic contigumtion of a majority population of Caucasian English speakers of British origin with American connections and French-speaking Acadians. as well as signiticant minorities of Blacks (primarily from United
States. but also Britain) and Mi'kmaqs who lived in segregated and clustered communities. Not only was the cultural demography of Digby County established by the early 19th cmtury but also the geographic configuration. The locations of the Acadian. Mi'kmaq. and Black communities in the 1990s are the direct result of decisions made two hundred years previously.
j4 The primary complaints that led to the 1792 esodus were racial intolerance from the local Caucasian population, inadequate land grants (both quality and size) inequitably imposed surveying costs, lengthy delays in land settlements, and for ?/3 of the Black Loyalists no land at all.
j5 The population of the province also increased dramatically during this period. from just under 12,000 in 1767 to 387,000 in 187 1 (Millward. 198 1 ).
- Chaprer 4 The Digby County Coilmion puge 125 The People of Digby County
Ethnic diversity within the province in which Digby County is located tends to be substantially less than the diversity of Canada as a whole. However. in the late 19th century.
Digby County represented the most ethnically diverse county within the province. despite the
British origin of the majority of its inhabitants. primarily because of its large Acadian minority as well as the significant numbers of Blacks. The dominant immigration patterns to Digby County during this period consisted primarily of those of British origin. most of whom were involved in the fishing industry. Other groups of immigrants - an example is the large numbers of West
Indians who came to Nova Scotin in the 1 890s primarily to work in the coal mines of Cape
Breton (MacKenzir. 1986) - tended to stay away from the non-industrial. non-urban areas of
Nova Scotia.
The 190 1 census tracts ror Dig by County show n population of X.300. marking the opes of a steady increase throughout the 19th century. This year marked the beginning of a gradual population decline which characterized the early part of the 20th century and continued dipping until 193 1. The numbers levelled off during the IXOs when the depression conditions elsewhere reduced the out-migration from Diyby County and other parts of Atlantic Canada. and the graph began climbing again in 194 1. By 195 1 the population numbers had almost reached their 190 1 level with 19.989.
Since the mid- 1950s. the census records for Digby County have shown remarkably consistent numbers hovering around 20.000. This stability of population numbers indicates a high rate of out-migration coupled with n low rate of in-migration. Compared to the provincial averages the county has a higher proportion of older citizens. Ln 199 1. 18.4% of the county's
- - Chapter 4 The Dig@ County Cull~.ction page 126 population was over the age of 45 compared with 15.8% of the province's population. The proportion of seniors (i.r. those over 65) is 16.6% of the county's population compared with
12.5% within the province. The in-migrants tend to be older than the out-migrants. retlecting the return to the county of those who have retired. The pattern of more people in the older age groups and hwer in the economically acti1.e age groups is a worrisome tlag of potential social and economic difficulties"'. since it indicates a high dependency ratio. i.e. high expenditures for schools. health care. and senior citizens care combined with low tm revenues from a limited sector of productive activity.
While the ethnic and mother tongue diversity of Digby County reflects significant numbers of minorities (particularly Acadians but also Blacks). and is therefore higher than the provincial levels (although well below the national level). the birthplace diversity of Diyby
County is very low compared to provincial and national levels (Millward. 198 1). Although there is a small American presence within the population of Digby County due to the relative proximity (by ferry) of American purchasers to vacation property. most inhabitants of Digby
County were born in Digby County. The number of Blacks in Digby County is difficult to ascertain. In 199 1. those who reported tht.rnselvrs of single-origin Black heritage (a category which if interpreted literally would include very few Black North Americans) was 345. The
I95 1 census suggests that the Black population was 868".
According to the 1996 census figures. the population of Digby County is 20.500 (half of
'6 This pattern is one that was already established in 1952. as Hughes er al. (1 960) note.
j7 The 195 1 census tract did not include a category for Blacks; however the category of 'Other' - which recorded 868 individuals - is generally considered to comprise those of African origin.
Chapter 4 The Digby Cutrnt-v Cdlecrion page 12- whom live in the predominantly French-speaking municipality of Clare, half in the English-
speaking municipality. Digby). roughly the same as it was in 195 l. Despite the remarkable
tenacity of the French language and culture in Clare in its two-hundred-year history. the numbers
of Acadians have shown signs of significant decline in the last 50 years. In 1951 virtually all of
Clare was Acadian. In 197 1 Acadians in Clare comprised 82.5% of the population. while
Acadians in the province represented 5% of the population. In 1998 Acadians comprise 69% of
the Clare population: the provincial proportion of Acadians is 4% (there are 40.000 Acadians in
Nova Scotia).
The educational rerpircments for employment in Diyby County are generally low. This
is reflected in the low level of educational attainment of the resident population. In 199 1 of those
over the age of 15.65% have only a high school diploma or less: 23% did not acquire schooling
beyond Grade 9. 33% went beyond Grade 9 but did not obtain a high school diploma. and 9%
successfully completed high school. There are no community colleges within Digby County.
although it offers the provincr's only bilingual university (as well as its only French-language
post-secondary school) which was ~oundedin 1890. The student enrolment at the university in
1993-94 was 490 (including 400 full-time students). In 1952. this university was unilingual
French only. Out of o total of 185 male students". 100 were from Nova Scotia. 15 from Quebec.
35 from New Brunswick. and 8 from the United States (Ross & Deveau. 1992).
j8 Women were not admitted into the college until 196 1.
Chaper 4 The Digby County Coilc.c.rion page 128 Economic Activities and Conditions
The basis of the local economy of Digby County is the inshore fishery which sustains a
network of fish-related enterprises. including processing plants. marine product marketing. boat-
building. boat design. and boat repair operations. as well as service activities. such as retail
stores. educational senices. health care. rccscation. and entertainment. Relying on small Cope
Island boats (typically less than 14 metres in length) and small trawlers ( 14 to 20 metres) and
providing tish to small and medium-sized fish plants (most with Fewer than 50 workers). the
industry is labour-intensive. comn~iinity-based.and highly diversified. The catch for inshore
tishers includes scallops. lobster. cod. herring, mackerel. and squid. requiring a range of gear
equipment. Depending on the type of catch. the tishinp gear can include traps. hook-and-line.
and gill-~ets.The tisrd-year hanprstinytechnology generally used by the inshore sector tends to
be relatively selective in tcmx of species and size. non-disruptive of the tish habitat. and
therefore less likely to upset the delicate ecological balance (Apostle & Barrett. 1992). Since the
hook-and-line technology does not drag but instead lies on the ocean floor. it only minimally
disturbs the spawning and feeding oC young fish. Similarly the nets and hooks can be adjusted to
select for species and tish maturity.
Unlike the offshore fleet. the inshore boats normally return to port each day selling their
catch to a local processor. Limited in their mobility and with little or no control over fish prices
and operating costs. most tishers vary their work patterns and their catch according to the current
market. quota. and weather conditions. Blades ( 1995) provides a description of the financing
involved in inshore fishery:
- - Chapter 4 The Digby Cutrnty Collrc~ion page 129 Independent fishermen most often own their own vessels and hire a small crew of one or two deckhands. Sometimes they operate on a share basis with other fishermen. which means the captain uses the money from sales. called the boat share. to first pay expenses. and whatever is left is divided among the captain and the crew. All are driven by the need to make payments on their boats and gear and to provide for their families ...Only in the best years is any money set aside. Inshore fishermen have consistently registered incomes significantly below the regional and national averages. (Blades. 1 995. p.84)
Traditional1y the inshore tishrry has had a symbiotic association with the forestry industry which provides the wood products for boats. lobster traps. boxes. homes. and wharves.
80% of Digby County consists of forested land. mostly softwood. In 1993 the county produced
12% of the province's sawn lumber and 3% of its pulpwood (Nova Scotia Department of
Finance). The demand for ~voodis irregular and seasonal. dependent on home and boat construction activities. In general. the forestry industry is unregulated (particularly compared to the fishery) and frapmcnted. although government policy has encouraged the consolidation of production into larger. industrialized. and crntralized units through federal grants and loans
(South Western Nova Scotia Study Tram. 1977). Woodlot ownership and management provide a supplementary source of income for fishing families. and is an important component in the multiple-source income structure charr~ctcristicof the county. particularly during the winter months. Both the fishery and the forestry industries rely on well-developed and well-maintained transportation systems (using boat. train. plane. and truck) to export scallops. lobster. cod. herring. Irish moss. as well as tirewood. pulp. construction materials. Christmas trees. and
finished wood products.
The Labour Forcc
Primary resource activities. such as fishing. farming. and logging, dominate the goods- producing activities of the region. with fish and wood being the two major products. The vast
- - Chapter J The Digbv County Cuflection page f 30 majority of producers are independent workers who own their own boats and woodlots and rely on their own labour or that of their families. In 199 1 the county's labour force consisted of
10.215 individuals. of whom 8.435 were employed. The 199 1 unemployment rate in Digby
County was 17.7%. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans reported in 1993 that there were
1.666 fishers in Digby County, including 1.1 16 who received 75% of their annual income from fishing. In the same year. 1 .SO0 fish processing workers were employed in 4 I processing plants.
According to 1993 statistics compiled by the Nova Scotia Department of Economic
Development. most of the county's 10 1 manufacturing plants'' (a category which includes fish processing and wood processing) in the county are small ( 85% have fewer than 50 employees). although six of the plants (all tish processing plants) hire 1.075 workers (thus. 6 I Oh of the county's fish-plant workers work in lj06 of the tish plants). The county's I0 1 plants employed
2.3 I0 workers. It shoiild bc noted that these occupation figures can be misleading since many workers work part-time in several sectors"'. In addition many fishers and fish-plant workers supplement their incomes with logying and trapping.
The 199 1 census shows that 50.5% of women were in the labour force and 68.5% of men.
Most fishers are male. although Connelly and MacDonald ( l99Oa. 1 WOb. 1995) point out that the inshore fishery is constituted both socially and economically by family units. Williams
(1990) notes that in the profitable years of the early 1980s an estimated 200 women in the
" In 1952. there were 91 manuhcruring plants employing 852 workers (Hughes cr d..1960).
'O This statement echoes the description of the region in 1952 made by Hughes et ui. (1960): "The difficulties of giving an esact breakdown of job categories are considerable in an economy where patterns of versatility and diversity are so prevalent" (p.32).
Chapter 4 The Digby C'ounn, Collecrion puge 13 1 Maritimes operated their own boats. The fish processing industry includes both men and women. According to MacDonald and Connelly ( 1990b). women were not employed in the fish plants of the Maritimes until the war-time scarcity of men provided the opportunity.
Semi-proletarianized workers such as those in Diyby County have provided students of class relations with an ideal opportunity to csamine contradictory class locations. MacDonald and Connelly (1990b). who have researched work patterns in a fishing port in Nova Scotia. describe the fishers as "neither truly independent nor truly wage labourers" (p. 148). Vcltmeyer
(1990) asserts that the esperienctts of this type of indeprndent commodity producers are "clearly more than a transitory phenomenon". .-\lthouyh this phase. Vrltmeyrr notes. is usually characteristic of the transition to wards capitalist development. the pattern for fishers in Mantic
Canada is distinctive in that "partial prolrtximization has been a fact of life For generations"
(p.99).
Income
According to Vcl tmrycr. jobs in the processing plants of many Maritime communities constitute the largest source of non-tishiny employment for members of fisher households. o tien providing an essential second income. Bscm~seemployment in the area is highly seasonal. influenced by the weather. quotas. and government regulations. and because there are limited opportunities for pernlanent employment. residents are reliant on multiple sources of income.
These multiple sources include unemployment insurance benefits. family allowance, pension. and other forms of transfer payments. which represent n significant component of the local economy. Changes to unemployment insurance regulations have enormous impact on the local
Chapter 4 The Digby Corm!\. Collecricln puge 132 economy; in L992 there were 5.320 claims from Digby County for Unemployment Insurance
benefits. As Veltmeyer (1990) points out. the income received from unemployment insurance
benefits keeps many fishing and fi sh processing operations viable while simultaneously helping
to lower market prices.
The income levels of both individuals and families in Digby County are low compared to
the provincial level (and the provincial level is low compared to the national leveis). According
to Statistics Canada. the average income among income tax filers in 1992 was $17.554 (80% of
the Nova Scotia average). while the average family income was $37.386 (85% of the Nova
Scotia average). 35% of income tas filers in Digby County (out of a total of 15.090 filers)
reported an income of less than $10.000 in 1992.
Historic Underdcvclu pmcn t
While these data offer a rough protile of the economic conditions of Digby County. the
situation must be tmdcrstood within tlw oterall contest of the economic conditions of the
Atlantic Canadian region. The word most frequently used to describe the region is
underdevelopedJ'. Compared to the rest of Canada. wages and income are lower. unemployment
is higher. opportunities are limited. and outmigration is inevitable. particularly for young people.
These conditions result in social displacement which has a high social cost. Conventional
I'Connelly and blacDonnld ( 1995) point out that 'underdeveloped' does not mean 'static': "Regional underdevelopment is a prqcrss whereby change and growth occur. but in a way that is distorted by processes and interests outside the region. that does not create a balanced. integrated economy. and that does not keep pace with growth in the centre of the economy. The Atlantic region has not been a centre for self-sustaining capitalist development for the better part ofa century" (p.384).
Chapier 4 The Digby C'orirtg- CTofle~*tion page 133 wisdom contends that the region's traditional economy, based as it was on wood. wind. and water. was ideal for the 19th century. but is utterly unsuited For the 20th century technologies of iron. coal. and rail. Indeed the 19th century represented the century of prosperity and activitv for
Digby County. a prosperity built on the triangular trading patterns characteristic of the time.
Wood. salt fish. and potatoes produced locally were traded for sugar. molasses. salt. and rum from the West Indics and munuFxtured goods and textiles from Boston and Europe. An equally important part of the local economy was the lumber industry. which supported a proliferation of sawmills along the rivers and streams of the region and produced countless wooden chzrchrs throughout the region with enormous streples and elaborately carved woodwork.
The province ot'Novn Scotia. with Digby County playing a major role. was a significant performer in the globill trndr market ofthe mid- l8OOs. Nova Scotia's decision to form a confederation with Ncw Brunswick. Ontario. and Quebec was motivated by the desire to build trade links between thc hlaritinws and the rest of Canada. but instead of enhanced prosperity
1867 marked the beginning of n decline. the result of the centralization of power in the continental area. By the 1020s many of thc region's industries had fallen under the control of central Canadian capital and indeed have never successfully escaped from the state of dependency which, by the period after World War 11. had become habitual. Gradually the region became immersed in an identity 3s an economic backwater. Battered by capital deficiencies. beset by population losses. mired in conditions of poverty. disparity. and limited opportunities. the region has become characterized as hopelessly stranded in a charming but backward way of life which has been kept atloat lagely by federal handouts.
The view that the Maritime provinces lack the resources, the geographic advantages. and
Chapter 4 The Digbj-Cot117tj' Collection page 134 other accoutrements necessary to a modern economy (a view that. according to David Frank
[1985]. was articulated is early as 1930 by Harold Lnnis) has not gone unchallenged. Critical
studies (among them Brym & Sacouman. 1979: Achrson. Frank. & Frost. 1985; Fairley. Leys. &
Sacouman. 1990) haw contested the image of the Golden Age when the province faced the sea.
arguing that the region has always existed in a dependent relationship with larger controlling
forces who have alternately estncted resources. accumulated surplus value. and neglected development possibilities. us it suited their nerds. Linking undctrdeveloprnrnt to relationships of domination and dependency rather than the uneven distribution of resources and opportunities.
proponents of this approach have focused on the structures within which the economic actiwties
in sites such as Digby County havc aided the process of capital accumulation. Other researchers
(Apostle B Barrett. lLlL12)have clrpurd that the independent coastal zone fishery with its low- entry costs. family-based organization. and capacity for quick-response diversification is best suited for small-scale development financed by small capital sources that arc decentralized.
industrialized. and rrsilicnt. .kcording to this view. the tishory has been historically undermined by the push to modernize and to centralize which has been initiated by the combined forces of monopoly capi talisrn and government.
The early 20th century saw major structural changes as the old merchant capital gradually shifted to industrial capital with an increasing focus in processing fish. A related development was the gradual replacement of saltfish with fresh and frozen fish, assisted by improvements in transportation and cold storage facilities. Up until the late 19th century the fishing industry had changed very little since the 1500s. Using hook-and-line technology. most fishers worked in small open boats close to shore or on sailing schooners which were used for greater distances. The fish were preserved at shore-based fishing posts by a combination of techniques involving
air-drying and salting. Dried saltfish was easy to transport and had a remarkable shelf life. The
capital costs of the inshore fishery were low. the work was based on family labour. and fishing
villages were settled close to the tish stocks. A second tradition was based on the use of fishing
schooners to transport men to the fish banks where they worked from small dories. returning
home after an absence of several weeks. As Hughes er trl. ( 1960) noted. this work pattern affected family life which had to adj itst to periodic absences. There were difficulties with
transporting fresh fish to central Canada. and the markets for both dried and fresh tish were primarily found within the Maritime provinces. along the American seaboard (when not limited
by tariff restrictions). and in the Caribbean.
Technological Develuprnents in the Fishery
At the turn of the century. a number of technological innovations and improvements within the fishing and transportation industries began to have an impact on the fishery. These changes ultimately transformed the industry from the traditional one based on the seasonal production of fresh and salted fish for consumption within markets that were local or accessible by boat to a year-round production of fresh or frozen tish for North American consumption.
Early in the 20th century. the dories and wind-powered schooners began gradually to be replaced inshore by motor-driven Cape Islanders and offshore by the steam-powered and diesel-powered trawlers (which ultimately gave way to huge factory krzsr trawlers in the 1960s) with the capacity to drag huge nets through the waters. Improvements in rail transportation methods. including freight refrigeration during the 1890s. brought a growth of the fresh fish trade which
Chapter 4 The Digby Cuunry Collection page 136 increased by 40% by 191 1. As Balcurn ( 1'197) points out. the steam trawlers represented an early-stage transition in the increasing capitalization of the groundfish industry. an economic shift towards corporate control over the fish trade which did not go unopposed. Cold-storage equipment. large crews. by-products plants. and the trawlers themselves required large-scale investment. By 1900. the province's fresh fish production was worth $2 million and salt and canned fish was worth $5.3 million (Balcom. 1997).
The period tiom 1 945 to the early 1 970s was another period of structural change in the industry. According to Barrtttt ( 1954). butt1 the provincial and federal levels of government ardently promoted industrialization and ctmmlizntion oF the fishery. and simultancousl) supported the offshore fishery's surge in production. The rapid growth of the dragger fleet - in size and in numbers - during the 1950s yaw considerable concern about the impact of this new technology on the fishing cornmunitics. Hughes er d..for example, expressed apprehension in
1960 that the draggers would chnllrnye the viability of the communities. These concerns date back to the mid-1920s. when the transition from salt fish to fresh fish created unstable conditions for small-boat fishers. Urged by the inshore tishrrs. who rspressed concerns about the trawlers damaging the tish stocks as well as their economic impact on the traditional fishing industry. beginning in 1929. the federal government enacted legislation which effectively placed strict controls on offshore trawlers (Balcom. 1997). The ban on development ohCanadian trawler fleet was not lifted until 1949.
Post-war Modernization
Wright (1997) describes the modernization of the fishery in the post-war period. which she argues involved "profound changes not only in the technology and the social and economic
Chapter 4 The Digby Cotmy Collrcrion pcrgr 13" structure of the industry but also in its relationship to the Canadian state" (p. 195). The most evident result of the modernization process was that dried and salted cod. the main expon product of the Atlantic fishery since the industry was established in the 1600s. was replaced by frozen fish. New technology was required - large trawlers. cold-storage facilities. and refrigerated transport. Many tish plants were enlarged. mechanization was introduced. and production methods LLVcrrstreamlined. Despite the tendency towards the concentration of the fish processing industry. many of the tish plants in Diyby County remained in the hands of locally based processors. usually family firms. But there was a marked growth ofa fishery bureaucracy with expertise in economic nnrtlysis. scientific knowledge. and skills in diplomacy.
Wright looks particularly at the role played by Stewart Bates. Deputy Minister of Fisheries from
1947 to 1954. According to Wright. Bates argued that the Atlantic fishery was undercapitalized. inefficient. and lacking in technology that could raise productivity. Salted cod had a limited market found only. Bates claimed. in poor countries. while frozen fish consumers would be found within the wedthy Nonh American middle class which was quickly expanding in the post- war era. The iconography of the post-war consumer culture - particularly the image of the housewife looking for new easy-to-prepare culinary rspcrirnces in the supermarket - is evident in government policy papers on the Atlantic fishery in the 1950s. Bates was critical of schooners and dories which were limited in times of bad weather. unlike the trawlers which could fish year- round. Using the romanticized depiction of the stereotypical independent fisher as a symbol of the backwardness that he associated with the saltfish industry. Bates sought to transform the industry into one that would utilize trawlers. large-scale processing plants. filleting machines. and conveyer-be1t technology for cullophanr-wrapping.
Chaprer 4 The Digby Cvt~unfc.Cokrion page 138 The desired result of the Bates initiatives was an efticient and stable work culture which
was consolidated. mechnnized. and centralized and would include a productive labour force tha~
was trained for specific. compartmentnlizcd tasks. and that held social and economic values in accord with the larger North American consumer society. The goal was to incorporate the
fishing industry. which Bates saiv 3s antiquated. anachronistic. independent. and individualistic.
into the modern and prosperous industrial framework. Wright points out that the Department of
Fisheries which undertook this broad objective did not seek input from those working in the
industry.
During the latter stages of LVorlil U'x II and continuing into the post-war period. the
tishery experienced massive changcs ivi r 11 risin y prices. i ncrsusrd demands for frozen tish. and technological innovations making mass production of tish for North American consumer use possible. Other changes included n higher degree of government intervention and the
7 - development of the o t'fshore tlert. 1 he offshore sector continued to grow through the postwar years to a place of dominance. From 1958 to 1968 the capital stock in the Atlantic coast fisheries increased nearly fivefold (Blades. 1995. p.86). Much of this growth involved the production of new offshore trawlers whose construction benefited from government subsidies and low interest loans. Between 1967 and 1970. the federal ~o\wnrnmtspent over a half a million dollars subsidizirig Nova Scotia boats longer than 36 metres while it extended only $12.000 in subsidies for the construction of inshore boats (Blades. 1995. p.86). As a result. the offshore fishery increased dramatically. In 1966 the ofklshorr catch exceeded the total inshore take. The
Department of Fisheries began taking steps shortly afier the war. carrying out experiments in fishing technology. providing finding for provincial fishers' education programs. and offering
Chapter 4 The Digby Culinty Collection page 139 subsidies for large vessels. Mer World War 11. the Atlantic fishery. which had been dispersed.
labour-intensive. and based on the salt cod. became capitalized. industrialized. centralized. and
regulated by a government bureaucracy. By the 1960s the government was providing significant
financial assistance to the industry wit11 loans to the frozen fish companies for trawlers and plant expansions. The salt fish industry. however. received little attention from the federal government and its significance decreased in the years dtrr World War 11.
Collapse of the Fishery
Throughout t11c early 20th century. lishing vesscls fiom many countries were drawn to the Atlantic fishery outside the Canadian three-mile limit. In the 1960s factory-equipped freezer trawlers appeared in the Atlantic tishery. These huge vessels which combined trawling with onboard processing and freezing capability allowed an intensive exploitation ofthe fish resources close to Canadian shores by the international fishing fleet. Between 1960 and 1968 (Blake.
1997). the catch of all groundfish oi'f Cancldn's eastern coast increased by 55% and international vessels were catching 809%of the catch. Prior to 196-1. the foreign fishing fleet fished in waters within 3 miles of the coast. The 1961 unilateral declaration of a 9-mile jurisdictional zone proved to be insufficient. and was replaced. first in 1970 with a 12-mile zone. and then again in
1977 with a 200-mile zone. The 1977 action was accompanied by extensive management measures including bilateral treaties [or observing. inspecting. and enforcing international quotas. Despite these efforts to conserve and restore fish stocks. the sustainability of the fishery continued to be threatened by over-fishing which was exacerbated by pollution. In 1992. a two- year moratorium on the commercid cxploi tat ion of northern cod inside the 200-mile limit was
- - Chapter 4 The Digb~?Currny Collecrion page 140 announced in an effort to protect the spawning stock. However the stock continued to decline
and the moratorium remains in place in 1998. The cod species - overfished to the point of a
reduced genetic diversity which. according to Blades ( 1995) may in itself be a factor in its
imperilled prospects for sustainability in thc harsh Northern Atlantic environment - appears to be
teetering on the brink of extinction.
The reason for the disintegration of the fishery in the 1990s is undisputed: The fish are
gone. The only hope for the industry lies in cart.fully nurturing the stocks. But the causes of this
sudden and seen~inglylasting disappsmncc are not simple and are far from uncontested. Most agree that over-fishing by huge international factory freezer trawlers are a factor. Other issues
include destructive fishing pracrices. unheeded scientific advice. ignored warnings from fishers. a
poor understanding of the interdc.prnJt.nsr of targct species. under-utilization ofquotas. a too-
rapid pace of capitdisr" and technologiccil c1cvslopmt.nr within the industry. rivalry between
fishery sectors for tkdml assistancc. and mistakes by inshore fishers (including misreponing and dumping). The collapst: of the codf sh industry has been accompanied by disruptions in the groundtish feed stocks such as squid. shrimp. mackerel. herring. and hake. and other fisheries such as lobster. The impact on Digby County. while stopping shon of being catastrophic as it has been on Newfoundland. has neuertheless been severe. The debilitating experiences of poverty. underdevelopment. social dislocation. and outmigration - all of which are historic
" Apostle and Barrett ( 1997) suggest. drming on the arguments of McCay ( 198 1) and Davis and Kasdan (1984). that a well-managed fishery is inescapably problematic for large-scale capital. Capital. they note, is "inherently prone to discount fi~tiirerewards in the interest of immediate gain since it can withdraw from the fishery altogetbrr wlien the resources becomes depleted" (p.32). Blades (1995) similarly points out that while corporate capital is mobile. free to move their assets from fish to chicken. fishermen are anchored to their boats and their debts.
- - Chapter 4 The Digby C'orrn~Collection puge I4 I features of the economy of the region - have been profoundly exacerbated by the collapse of the county's economic mainstay.
Changes to the Fishery since 1951
Faced with this disruption of the economy. Digby County is undergoing a period of change as families. communities. and yovmmmts seek ways to weather the collapse of the fishery. During the IXOs Digby Count): rspcrienced major economic and technological
mnsformations as it ilndcrwnt 3 PI+OC~'SS I) t'n~odrrnizati~nand growth which ( ironically) ultimately led to the current situation o t' collnpsc.. The thr-reaching social changes that occurred in this earlier period were induced by multiple events. occurrences. shifis and initiatives. but a significant point of origin was a simple change in technology. Fishers began to use a different type of gear. The labour-intensive stationary weirs once used to fish mackerel and herring are rarely seen today. The boats thcmsclves haw changed since the 1950s. While continuing to use the Cape Island design. which has been popular since the turn of the century. many of the small boats tied to wharves in Digby Count!. today are built of tibreglass and are wider and longer than their predecessors. Most are equipped with electronic aids. such as radar. marine radios. motor- driven hoists. echo sounders. and fish location devices. As Davis ( 1 99 1 ) points out. these instruments have tended to reduce the role of esprrience in fishing.
The most far-reaching change to the boat technology has been the development of the trawler fleet which began during the war with the need to increase food production and accelerated in the post-war period. Between 1956 and 1964. federal and provincial governments provided 81% of the financing for large tish draggers. Similar initiatives were directed at the processing sector. New plant capacity needed large supplies of fish. In the early 1950s the lobster fishery was the only activity regulated by Ottawa. and the regulations were limited to licenses, season. and saleable catch. i.r. a minimum size was stipulated and no 'berried' (egg- carrying) females coiild be sold.
The dragger Hrrt developed gs:~dually.unregulated ~lntilthe late 1950s. The esplosivr growth in the dragger tlert was closcly associated with changes in tish buying and marketing.
While federal 'and provincial programs gave fishers access to subsidies and lo w-interest loans for new boats. most fishers only took advantage of these when processors became interested in high- volume catches. Davis ( 199 1 ) points out that although 84% financing was provided by various government funding programs. tlw balance had to be contributed by the fishers through private sources. Loans from fish buyers were frequently the only private sources available to fishers given the prevailing low fish prices. Thc rcsult was. in Davis's words. "fishers remained price- takers: fish buyers remained pricc-gi\.t.rs" ( p.66 ).
The change in year coincided with changes to the product. Refrigerated technology replaced many operations producing saltfish. Snlttish was supplanted by fresh and frozen products. The refurbished and modernized plants required high volumes of fish to pay For the new technology. While the early draggers could tish only ocean bottom that was relatively smooth and sheltered. technological advances soon permitted esploitation of grounds that previously had been fished only by hook-and-line4'. Davis ( 1992) describes the inevitable
" Hook-and4 he tlshing is a tised-year technology which includes longline fishing (where a long central line with shorter hooked lines is anchored to the ocean floor) and handline fishing (where multiple main lines are used each with two hooks).
Chapter 4 The Digbv C'oung Col1ectior.t page I43 conflicts between draggers and longliners which had begun in the 1920s when the size of the
trawling fleet was frozen by federd rcyulation ot the insistence of inshore tishrrs. Line fishers complained that dragging wreaked havoc un the fish stocks because it destroyed ocean bottom
habitats. killed small fish before thcy reproduced in significant numbers. broke up fish shoals.
and overeqAoitrd stocks. These complnints were familiar ones: they had been voiced since the
1920s and resulted in restrictions to the dragging fishery until 1949. Hughes et al. ( 1960) noted
the removal of these restrictions in their description of fishing conditions in 1952:
Large drarreerstC opemriny Born ports outside the Province come close to the ... shore and collect many varieties of tish in considenblc quantities. The County tishrrmen hold that these vessels are destroying fishing by waste in killed but unused fish. by driving schools away from their ~isuiilfeeding grounds. and by ruining the spawning beds and feed. The validity ot'thos~assertions is perhaps open to question. for scientific studies tend to reftitt. them. Whether or not the tishenncn are right in believing that the draggers will destroy the tish. it seems clear that this method is likely to destroy the fishermen. By this we mean that they may rcndcr the prcscnt tishiny village and its way of life obsolete. (p.5 1 )
As it happens the draggers (and thcir more ambitious and more destructive successors. the
factory freezer trawlers) may have destroyed both the tish and the tishemen. While the culpability of the draggers in the colli~pst.of the fishcry continues to be unclear. there is general agreement that the growth of small boat draggers changed the fishery in Digby County.
According to Davis ( 1992) the cod and hoddock catch in the area of Digby Neck had increased substantially by the 1960s: cod landings in 1 965 were one- ti Ah hi y her. and haddock landings over two and one-half times higher. than those reported in 1 957. In contrast. hake landings ( for which the hookand-line technology was the dominant year) had declined from 1952 by 82%.
These trends continued until the early 1970s when the collapse of fish stocks from overexploitation dramatically reduced the number of small boat draggers fishing out of Digby Neck. However the local tleet began to build again following the recovery of the stock and the
1977 declaration of the 200-mile jurisdictional zone. .4 new set of regulations was developed.
designed to match the total acceptable catch with the biological capacity of the stocks through
licensing. quotas. and inspections.
By 1983 cod landings had increased almost fourfold over the 1 973 low (which had. aRrr
two decades of climb. dropped back do~to the 1952 catch). The proportion of tish caught by
inshore line fishers dropped prrcipituusly since the 1970s. According to Davis ( 1992). inshore
fishers in the Digby Neck and islands mac~ught only a small percentage of the total landed
groundfish in 1983 - 9% of cod. 4.9% of haddock. and 1.7% of pollock: the share of the total
catch caught by the fishers of the Neck and islands in 1075 was 39% of the cod. 8.5% of the
haddock. 'and 12% of the pollock. These numbers reflect the increased involvement of the
draggers.
As a result. inshore kishcrs are relying much more on lobster tishing as a source of
income. Since lobster fishing is restricted to a limited time of year. the local inshore tishery has
become largely a seasonal. part-time activity. In addition. tishrrs have to travel farther in search
of tish. eroding the economic efficiency of the small draggers. As a result many large trawlers
tie their vessels up at the distant ports and the captain and crews commute by car to the boats'
location. Although the fishery increased its catch substantially between 1952 and 1983. this
increased productivity was not retlectrd in increased total employment in the fisheries. In the
Digby Neck area. an area of Digby County almost completely dependent on the fishery. there was a 32% reduction of tishers and 52% reduction in tishing boats (Davis. 199 1).
Chapter 4 The Dig&-v C'or my Collection page 145 The processing sec tor. like the 11urr.csting sector. also recovered from the collapse of the mid- 1970s. only to face the new and much more serious collapse of the 1990s. Despite the process of consolidation and concentration that began in the 1950s. the majority of the tish- buying enterprises remni n indcpendrnt. thmily-owned businessrs. diversified in their product mix. Many function as specialized bmncl~esof larger tish companies. consistently selling all of their products to a single buyer. The independent processors experience pressure from the large companies. At the same time that the fish production urns increased. fish processing plants adopted technologies and labour procrsscs which vastly increased productivity but reduced the number of employers required. In the I9l;Os salt. dried. and smoked fish were dominant features of the economy. supplrmmtd by tish oil estrxtion and canning. Today fresh and frozen tillets
;Ire the dominant products with small :muunts dsnltcd and moksd tish. There is a heavy dependence on machinery for skinning 311~1filleting. Convcyer belts. fork liR trucks. and icc- making machinery are port of the picturc. The plants 1ior.c poured concrete floors and stainless steel work tables. Health regulations for food industries and labour safety codes have had a positive impact on the working conditions and the fish product. but the increase of capitalization has also enhanced the importance of continuity of supply. Small fish-plants are in a much aureater position of jeopardy. Drawing on a stable pool of part-time workers who supplement their earnings with unemployment insurance benetits. the plants are non-unionized and. as Davis
(1991) describes. eshibit many characteristics common to work-sites in single-industry communities. Davis asserts that the plants tend to be paternalistic in their employee relations. use bonuses to reward positiw work habits and a cooperative disposition. and hire on the basis of discretionary patronage and gender stereotypes. Women ram less than men and their jobs tend
Chapter 4 The Digb-v C'unngv Collectior~ page I46 to have less security. These conditions. prevalent in communities such as Digby County where those with sufficiently mobile resources (such as education. ambition. marketable equity. or portable skills) have already left. result in n workforce that is demoralized and that has extremely
Low expectations. This disheartening description represents a significant change from the workforce photographed by John Collier.
In the 1950s it was not necessary tbr buyers to own a large number of boats in order to control prices. They were able to do this through a traditional debt-obligation relationship in which the buyers proviJctl bait. fuel. and equipment. As the vessel size increased. however. the situation changed. According to Davis ( I L)LlI ). most fish processors on Digby Neck and the islands own draggers ns a way to ensurc supply and control prices. While the traditional debt- obligation re lationship continues to esist bctwwn hc: processors and the smaller inshore fishers. outright ownership of at lcast some of thc large boats has been necessary in order for the fish- plant owners to exercise control over supply.
The economy otDiyby County 113s changed since the 1950s from a subsistence. misrd economy to a cash-generating. increasin y l y special izcd arrclngemmt. dependent on the development of industrialized transportation methods c~ndof government regulatory involvement. The changes to the fishing industry since the IOjOs are several: Hook-and-line technology has been replaced by draggers. increasing the catch of certain groundfish species. which has led to overfishing saltfish technology has been replaced by capital-intensive filleting operations. which require high-volume production of fresh and frozen products to maintain their high-cost enterprises: to a large extent. the inshore small-boat ground-fishery has been replaced by a greater involvement in the large-boat fishery and by a greater dependence on the lobster
Chapter 4 The Digby Cuuncv Cullection pugr 14' industry. which is a seasonal and part-time actiirity. and which has also experienced a serious reduction of stocks. The general cconotnic pattern has bem an overall reduction in employment and increased reliance on gow-nmmt si~pport.
Changes in Social Relations since 195 1
While the economy o t' Digby County has show major indications of transformation. there have been corresponding shifts in social relations in terms of gender. race. and ethnicity.
The role ofwomen in Digby County was changing during the post-war period as it was everywhere throughout North America. The war effort hod demonstrated unequivocally and dramaticallv the diversity of wrnen's potential contribution to salaried labour. while the post- war period denlanded rhe traditional kmdc contribution in he form of babies. domestic labour. and community and fiimily leadership. The impact of these shifts in the discourse around the role of women was felt in particu1;lr ways for the womsn of the mainly rural communities of
Digby County who. unlike thc women in large urban ccntrrs. did not move suddenly into the munitions factories during thc war and t11t.n back into domestic life during the 1950s. The war opened up jobs for woincn in the fish-plants. [n addition. the women of Dipby County during this period continued to play a si ynificant role. as they had in the 1930s ad40s. as support workers in the tishing. farming. and logging industries - sometimes as paid labourers. more often as unpaid workers. workers whose income was family-based. not personall y-based. However the changes occurring all across Nonh America. as the discourse around domesticity evolved and as domestic labour became more mechanized. were also felt by the women of Digby County. The development of improved con~munication- radio and early television - played a role in the dissemination of the discourse and the rise of expectations.
The civil rights movement in the .-\tlilntic region took on new life in the period after the war. and its rebirth directly aSfectrd the lives of the Blxk population of Digby County. The
Nova Scotia Association for the Advancrmrnt of Coloured People (NSAACP) was formed in
1945. Its first big challenge to eliminate the Jim Crow Inws and conventions (which were widespread in Nova Scotia at that time) occurred in 1946 when Viola Desmond. a Black Halifax woman. was arrested for choosing n secit in the section of a New Glasgow movie theatre reserved for Caucasians. This case was t'ollou~dclosely throughout the Atlantic provinces as it worked its way through the appeal ~SOCL'SS.where Desrnond's cmwicti~n\itas ultimately upheld on a small technical point.
Racial segregation in the schools oi' this region officially ended in 1 954. although residential segregation and numrrous burc:ti~cr;iticdecisions involving school district delineation and school bus policies ensured the contin11c.desistmce of o two-tiered educational system based on race throughout thc 1950s and 60s. For the Black communities of Digby County. the struggle for racial equality (which according to Pachai [I9901 can be traced back to the 18th century when numerous petitions were submitted - Ixgely ignored - for equitable land distribution for Black
Loyalists) required diligence. discipline. and community single-mindedness. This struggle was strengthened and encouraged by the integration of the Canadian military during World War I1 and by the advance oE the ci14 rights movement taking place throughout the United States during the post-war period. The 1950s represented a period of rising expectations for Blacks in Nova
Scotia. These expectations were largely unrealized as racism lingered (and lingers still) in a variety of forms within interpersonal settings where basic human rights can be disputed. and
Chapter 4 The Digby C'orrnn- Cclll~crion puge I49 within institutional sites where systemic structiiral barriers to occupational and educational
opportunities can be effective1y (albeit quietly and sometimes unconsciously) erected and
maintained. The introduction of human rights legislation in the 1970s and 1980s brought a
second wave of raised optimism and renewd struggle to the Black communities of Nova Scotia.
The troubled economic climate of the 1990s and cutbacks to government equity programs haw
seriously challmgcd that optimism. Blnclis in Diyby County. as in other pans of Nova Scotia.
continue ro face racial barria-s to economic admncment.
The shitis that were occurring in gender and race relations during the 1950s were matched
by changes in the relations betwen the dominant English population and the significant French-
speaking population in Diyby County. Thc iicadim population - which comprised half of the
total popdation of Digby County and who \\-err located geographically within their own political
region of Clare - were. throughout the l Wk esperirnc i ng intcnsi tied pressure to assimilate. as
contact between the Frmch and English cornmimitics incrcused and the gradual shift towards
centralization of comrncrcr. rcinforcd English as i11r langunyt: of power. Cosprr ( 1984)
compared the evolving relationship bctwrcn ethnicit!. clnd occupation in Atlantic Canada by
studying the census tracts of 193 I. 195 1. ~lnd197 1 . Employment opportunities were divided
along linguistic lines tl~roughoutthe province during this period. Labelle ( 1986) points out that.
although the workers in the factories and fishing boats of the Maritimes were both Acadian and
English-speaking. the employers were almost invariably English-speaking. and virtually all communication between Acndians and ,bplophones was conducted in English. Labelle cites the
Chapter J The Digb~bC'urmh. C701/c.crion page 150 work of Tremblay4' ( 196 1 ) to tsplain the relative infrequency of accounts of Acadian-English conflicts within oral history sources.
T~emblaywas studying the erosion o t',kadian culture and tbund that. working side by side with English spe:lhrrs. .r\cndinns in minority position avoided self-affirmation because they didn't want to appear antagonistic. In order to be accepted. they conformed to the ways of the English majority. and the evmtunl result was the loss of their distinctiveness. The outward appearance would be one of harmony. while the Acadians were in fact experiencing a subtle pressure t conform. (Labelle. 1986. p.50)
According to Labelle. the Acadim reluctance to tlshibit cultural distinctiveness in the
workplace did not apply to religious dift'crmcrs4'. Relating several incidents from oral history
when Acadians defended thcir religious ri yhts From their English-speaking neiyhbours. Labrlle
notes Tremblay's observation that a widcsprec~dconviction among Acndians in Dipby Count! during thc 1950s was that the survival ul'their cult~~mlherirngr depended directly on the
maintenance o E their Innguagr and re1 igion. Thc census information supports the validity of this
belief. Millward ( 198 1 ) points out that.
The descendants of the French moving to CIalihs from Digby County seldom maintained French as mother tongue. so that while in 197 1 8.9% in the city are of French origin. only 3 3% have French as mother tongue. (p. 14)
Thus the pressure towcuds outmigration. an aspect of life for all inhabitants of Digby County which has been long-standing and which has intsnsitied in recent years in the face ofthe collapse of the fishing industry. impacts on Acndians with greater magnitude because of the loss of
'"Clarc- Adelard Trem blay nus part of the epidcm ioloy ica l research project which produced the Collier pl~otographsof Digby County.
" Althoupl~there are pockets of minority Huguenot franaophones within Nova Scotia. virtually all of Digby County's Acadians identitied themsel~~esin the 1950s as Roman Catholics (and most continue to do so in the 1990s).
------Chapter 4 The Digby Cuunn*Collection page 151 culture. identity. and even the simple ability to commtmicatr with one's neighbours.
The popidation of Digby County today is allnost esactly the same size as it was in 1950
(approximately 20.000). The main employment activities continue to revolve around fishing. fish processing. logging, and transportation. The l~ousingpatterns have not changed: most inhabitants still live within a few miles of the coast. The schools are no longer racially segregated. and barriers to educational and occupational opportunities based on gender. race. and ethnicit); are no longer ofticially or lepiilly sanctioned. Digby County is enmeshed in another period of major social transformation brought on by the. collapse of the fishing industry. major alterations to federal funding patterns. and cutbacks to provincial health. social. and education budgets. The Collier photographs document n world thr has changed. Many of the industrial activities photographed by Collier rvert. subscyuently supersedrd by more efficient. newer technologies which themselves have been overtaken by the collapse of the fishing industry. The photographs offer silent testimony to (1 \\a!. of life that 113s bded from view.
Chapter 4 The Digbv Cuzmw Collection pup IS2 Chapter Five Images of Digby County
1. Introduction to the Photographs
Photography - to state the obvious - is a \,isuol medium. While meaning is assigned to
photograplic imagery through a complex culti~ralprocess not unlike the process required for an
understanding of language (and indeed the interpretation of photographs often relies on
supporting linguistic devices. such as titles. captions. rlccompanying narrative. critical discourse.
and other literary and verbal strategies. ro rcint'orce a chosen elucidation). photographs ultimately
depend on visual codes to driw t11c signilicntiun c.nyinc. To be sure. the nun-linguistic
signifying devices of photographic imagery include viewing context. presenting agency.
contemporansously csperienced visual events. and other framing mechanistns. but the primary
convention is simple picture content. .Aided by n gamut of exposing. developing. and printing
techniques (camera format. tilm and chcmiccll chi~roctoristics.lighting. composition. colour and
tonal values. cropping. and contrast adjustments ). which corn bine to assert and highlight a
specifically selected and controlled meaning (sometimes in ways as intrusive. unnecessary. and
redundant as subtitles in a tilm with sound). ultimately image content - moulded by camera
perspective - conveys image meaning.
The content of the Collier photographs is full of specific visual details about activities.
structures. objects. events. and people in Digby County. The subject matter of the photographs is discussed in this chapter by using three broad categories: work. community. and landscape.
Chapter 5 lrnages of Digby Counnr in lYSO-3/ page 153 Clearly these categories do not fimction 3s discrete clnssi tications. Photographs are a rich informational resource that offer an intrinsically open-ended supply of data. As Alan
Trachtenberg (1985) notes in his essay on the cataloguing system used by the Library of
Congress to organize the Fam~Security .-\dn~inistrationphotographs. categories for visual images are intsllect~~alconstructs and - inescapably - ca~~irrsof ideology. As ordering principles. they are representations of reality which. in the process of propelling the meaning
From the specific to the gmrml. also reducc. restrict. trclnsform. and imbue. The boundaries between typologies ol'phorogrsphic imagery cannot be absolute: subject martrr inevitably overlaps sc\-era1categories. .A clr?ssification systmm for po ly vulent images (such as photographs ) which is meant to aid in the development of an nnnlytical mrthodology can fulfil this function only if the categories are allowd tluidity and elasticit!.
This point is a pivotal one in thc utilization of photographs as an analytical tool and should be emphasized: The categories uscd to discuss visual images are. like the photographs themselves. fictions: they are. in Trachrsnbcrg's words. "made-up versions of the past". In Digby
County. images of people nt work cmnut be separated from images of family and cornmunit). lift. and both are seen against the background uf the natural ;mrt constructed landscape. Work. community. and landscape are intrinsicall!- connected: thus. a11 the photographs belong in all the categories. Although the categories o fkr a dr vice to consider particularized aspects of the images (which are themselves fragrncnted. de-contestudizrd remnants of a no-longer-extant
Digby County). readers are urged to consider this anaiysis holistically by consciously using interactive strategies to assist with the process of meaning production.
By integrating the visual information of the Collier photoyraphs with other sources of information. by drawing on personal espcriences and a wider knowledge base than is provided
solely by the photographs (including an ~~nderstnndingof the contemporary and subsequent
socioeconomic conditions). and by metaphorically utilizing the optical phenomenon known in
cinematography as 'persisrmcr of vision'. a phenomenon which allows multiple fixed images to
form within the retina an irnprrssion of mo\wnrnt and lik. readers can catch a glimpse of a wa!
of life that has laded from view but which has nonetheless leR its mark. Digby County of'thr
1950s casts shadows on Diyby Count); of the 1990s. By using the strategies of interactive
production of meaning. it is hoped that vitxers can circumvent photography's tendency to
romanticize nnd simplify. to xstheticize rind distance. to fragment and to dt-contextualize: and
that viewers can gain insight into the circumstances of life in Digby County both then and now.
2. The Photographs: Work
Diversity uf Work .-\rtivities
Work'" in Diyby County is depicted in Collier's images of activities. sites. tools.
products. and proplr involved in the prirnrtr); industries 01' tishing. forestry. and farming: the
manufacturing industries of boat-buildi~~gand box hctories: the processing industries of fish
packing and fish processing: and the service industries of shopkeeping. housework. childcare.
and education. Work-related photographs encompass the largest grouping of the images taken by
'' Following MacDonald and Connell~.'~researcll ( 199On) into family work patterns in six Nova Scotian fishing communities. the term 'not-k' is ~~sedin this dissertation to include all labour-related activities that is organized in ongoing and rrgi11arizt.dpatterns. including non-paid labour such as housel~oldtasks. community support work. and school work. MacDonald and Connelly found that paid labour tasks in their research sites. because of seasonal jobs. self-employment. and subsistence production. overlapped with unpaid labour tasks. Because of this overlap. it is not practicable to separate paid labour from unpaid labour when considering visual data.
Chapter 5 /mtrges qf' Digby Corinty in 19511-51 page155 John Collier. Virtually every image - with the possible escrption of the housing survey photogr;phs4' - records work-related int'onnation.
There are images of fishing-rcliltcd activities such as boat-building. net-mending. equipment maintenance. lobster trap construction. tish-processing. tish-packing. fish-drying. weir-setting. and clam-digging: images of forestq-rcli~tcdactivities such as the construction of logging roads and camps. tree-t'rlling. the loading OF boats with logs. preparation of food at the camps. tapping tbr maple syrup: images of domestic-rcliltcd rctivities such as cooking. cleaning. child-care. shopping. store-krcping. mending. quilting. animal care. gardening. hair- cutting: and images u t'cduc~tionilli~rtivities such as tcachiny. homework. occupational training. and the ir.formd instruction dskills.
The overall impression producd by the photographs is of a high level of activity. People appear to be constantl!. busy and thcir activities appear both estroordinarily diverse and intrinsically connected. Unlike the sprcidized. repetitive. and disjointed tasks that one might see in an industrial factory setting for csumplc. many of the work activities shown in Digby County are seen to be artici~latc'dende;1vours within a cohesive ctmtext.
Working Conditions
Collier's photographs of the activities in the resource extraction industries (fishing. forestry. and farming) show working conditions that in mimy cases appear to be extraordinarily labour-intensive. Difticult physical tasks are shown to be xcomplishrd through ingenuity.
47 The housing survey (a series of images of houses) was designed with the specific purpose of helping the epidemiological researchers concluct a standardized poveny assessment study of the region. tenacity. and back-breaking csertion with little help from machinery and technology. From a present-day perspective. the equipment is strikingly primirive and there is a heavy reliance on work animals. pLuticularlyosrn. Safety equipment and even minimal protective clothing. such as work gloves and heavy boots. are rarely visible in the images.
Although the u-orking conditions appear harsh and demanding and the tasks extremely rigorous. exceptionally dangerous. and impossibly immense. tishrrs. packers. loggers. and labourers are consistently seen as cheertill cind utterly engaged in their incessant tasks. The apparent cheerfi~lnttssof the subjects - somswhnt startling given the visible harshness of the work
- may be on unintcntionnl retlsction ofrhc. photogrnphrr's prr~ence'~which no doubt evoked a self-consciousness among the subjccts :is well as n sense of satisfaction and pride in the (likely unusual) experience of carrying out everyday activities rlremrd important enough to photograph.
Since both the photo y raphic evidence of the Collier in~qrsand experiential knowledge attest to the brutality of physical labour. it seems unlikely that the chc.rrf~~lnrssevidenced in the photographs was a continuous rsprrisncc for [he u.orkr.rs. Not visible in the photographs. but easy to imagine all rht. same are inro1cr:iblc tensions resulting from the close working quarters. exhausted physical resources. and intense comprti tion for meagre and short-1ived rewards. The images of harsh working conditions tacitly and convincingly attest to the fortitude and stamina of
Digby County's workers.
While the photographs divulge difficult working conditions. they also reveal the social nature of the work which perhaps intermittently helped to offset the unrelenting discomforts and
JS In some images. the pliotograpt~er'spresence is made visible by the si~bjects'conspic~~usly covering their faces. This occtrs inore frequently in the photographs of recreational activities than the work-related activities.
------Chupter 5 hrtages of' Digby Cotinn, in / 9511-5 1 pageI57 tensions of the tasks. The photographs shoursshared meals. communal tasks. and moments of socialized rest and recompense. While some photographs depict individuals engaged in solitary tasks, mmy more show group work inwiving small groups of three or four as well as larger groups of fifteen or twenty. The group entcrprisrs show uorkers waiting. helping. and taking turns. Not apparent in the photographs. but no doubt present at the time. are contlicts (and resolutions to those contlicts) as workers jostled for position. made greater or lesser contributions to the group effort. and debated alternative pro blem-solving stratey ies.
Like the labourers in the primary resource estraction industries. workcrs" in the manufacturing. processing. and srrvicc sscrors - boat-buildsrs. machinists. houseworkers. fish packers. shopkeepers. and tsxhers - arc. ~lepicteclin the Cullirr photognphs as busy. cheertill. and hard-working. nlthough thc wurk appcxs much less ph>~sicilllyestremr. While some of this work clearly requires physical eserrion (and sometimes intense physical exertion). the primary demands appear to be conccntmtion. psoblcm-solving. and the strains of repetitive tasks. Boat- builders are shown taking care fill measurcmcnts: sawyers are seen mcticulousl y sharpening their blades: craAs workers lean into their work as thry spin. wave. and hook their crafts: teachers oversee their classes in an ambience that is sombre and scrious: and mothers frown as they dam socks. wash potatoes. brush their children's hair. and knead ht clumps of bread-dough. To be clear. the photographs of workers in the primary indusrries show intense concentration as well as physical exertion when thry crtlculntr the leverage required to remove boulders from the path of the log road thry are building. rnanoeuw their boats through busy coves. and inspect the skies
J9 In many cases people who work in the resource extraction itidustries are also seen in the images as working in the manufacturing. processing. and service industries. Fishers are shown painting boats. foresters are shown weeding gardens. and fiir~nrrsare shown building sheds. The distinction that is being made here is bet\veen the tasks not the personnel. for signs of changing weather conditions: but the images suggest that overall ratio of physical
activity to intellectual activity is sector-clctcrmined with rht: primary industries often demanding
higher levels of physical labour.
Distribution of Labour
According to the visual informrttion provided by the photographs of Digby County.
gender and race (both i~isuallydiscrmiblc ch~mcteris~ics"')appear as signiticnnt factors in the
distribution of labour? Of the approsimutely 6.800 imapcs of Digby County. 1.837 images
(27% of the collection) depict adults engaged in work-related activities (including unpaid labour
such as housework) in which the race and ycnder of the indi\~idudsat work can be discerned.
The majority of rhw images ( 1.536 or S4% of the total) arc pictiires of Ciu~casianmm: in 301
images (16%) women dominate. There are only ten plmogmphs in which Black men are
represented in a working capacity. although many photographs of recreational activities include
Black mm. women. and children. As noted in Choptrr 4. the I95 l census indicates that the total
population for rhtt county \vas just under 10.000. with 348 Blacks and 40 Mi'kmaq.
Class. like rthnicity. is an identi tier that is not communicated with precision in visual
data. In the Digby County photographs. class is primarily tlagycd by work activity and clothing
The physical features of bli'kmaq are not always visually discernible. It is difficuit to ascertain how many Natives are depicted in the Collier images. Only ow photograph is clearly identified in the index cards as depicting a Native man.
5' It seems likely that rtllnicity also has bearing on work activities in Digby County (see Cosprr. 1984), but the images provide few visual clues on this point. Digby County's ethnic groups include English speakers of British descent. Acadians. English speakers of African descent. Mi'kmaqs. and Jews. In some cases. the researchers' indes cards indicate the ethnicit, of those subjects who are Acadian or Mi'kmaq, and the tirld notes (which record the subjects' names) offer some clues. but for many of the photographs. it is dificult to determine the etfinicity of the subjects on the sole basis of the visual data. apparel. As has been earlier pointed out. class location is a complex issue for fishers. The definitive fulcrum for class determination according to conventional Marxist class analysis is the relationship of individuals and groups to the means of production (i.r the instruments of transformation that allow rw products to be changed into products that can be consumed).
According to students of class analysis in htlnntic Ctin~ldn(B~ym B Sacouman 1979: Clement
1986: Williams 1990: Velt~neyer1990: Foirley. Lqs. cY: Sucoiman. 1990). primary producers and small businessmen in the region. siich as the fishers anti tish-plant owners of Digby County. have been mguged since the 19th century in a continuing struggle against monopoly capitalism under the threat of increased impoverishment and proletarianization. Many of the individuals depicted in the Digby County images arc concurrently members of the perire holrrgeoivie (that is. independent commodity prutlucers ~11uboth own and upcrate thrir means of production - boats. gear. and other tools). ;ind rncmbers 01- thc prolrtaria~uhil sell their labour power to the owners of the means o t' production. Their class position is ombi\.aient. Veltmryer ( 1990) asserts that such independent prod~~crrssurvivc bccause they are willing to accept a lower economic reward as a condition for retaining their nomind independence. The significance of independence for tishers resonates in this description ohtishiny community in the 1950s provided by Hughes er al. (1960):
In most cases there is no "working day" or set hours except for the wage laborers in the fish plants. and even they can have their schedule altered by unusually large intakes of fish. or by none at all. '4 hallmark of the fisherman's life is that of being his own boss. Although he must yield to the elements and the seasons. so far as human authority is concerned he defines his own tasks and sets his own hours. (p.22)
Among the photographs of tis h-plant workers. Caucasian women constitute the largest group, although significant numbers of Black women and Caucasian men also appear in these
Chapter 5 lrnagrs of Dighy Cottn~?itr 1950-11 page I60 images. Aside from !he women who ,ipprar as fish-plan1 ~wrkers.the principal representation of
women in work-related activities is as l~ousewivesand mor11t.r~:other representations include a
handful of teachers and secretaries. a switchboard operritor. and the manager of a post office. In
their study of sociocult~~ralconditions ofthe nrrn during the 1950s. Hughes et d.( 1960)
reported. in language that inadvertently reveals much about the contemporary discourse on
gender. on the prevalence of separate spheres for men and women:
There is a relatively strict division of labor betwen man and wife. The woman3 province is in the home and with domestic matters. md she almost never ventures onto the sea. Iler activities are cooking and housccleclniny. the raising of children. and caring for her tisheman-husband. Only in a Iixpiuces do the women have jobs outside thc home. and when they do ir is must uHen in a tish plant. The man's task. ~f'coursr.is to provide subsistence Ibr his hmily and to serve. at least formally. as the disciplinarian anti head of the huusehold. (p.22)
The photographs provide visual cuncurrenst. u it11 this description that most domestic
labour in Digby County during the 1950s was performed within their own homes by women who
were the wives of tishcrs. some of whom were also employed in the fish plants as full-time or
part-time workers on n permanent or 3 temporary basis. I-lowver there are some photographic examples of anomalies to this "relatively strict" gender division of labour: a photograph ofa young woman driving 3 tractor. an image of o man wearing fishing boots pushing a stroller past sheds of lobster traps. md occasional imnyes of men tending children.
As Lutz and Collins ( 1993) have demonstrated. photographs offer additional social
information if what is absent from the imnyrs is considered us well as what is present. The low visibility of Blacks and women in the Dig by County photographs reflects the contemporary discourse on gender and race issues at a time when the dominant discourse in both popular and academic arenas tended to overlook the work performed by women and to discount the structural
Chapter S Inrages q'Digb~Cormn ir7 1931-51 puge 16 1 and institutional barriers to Blacks: it also indicates the sprcitic research objectives of the
project. The epidemiological research project deliberately chose a predominantly Caucasian
focus to facilitate a close comparison of English and Xctldian cultures. As a result. Black
communities were not photographed and Black hmil ies wre not chosen for individual
portraiture. Despite this absence. the photographs point to the intersection of race. gender. and
class as significant factors in work-relard acri\*ities. in xc;is [hilt include distribution of labour.
work apparel. and type of relationships as suggested by kinesics and prosemics.
Women - both Black and Caucasian - arc: c\,irlc.nt ;is fish-plant workers. and Caucasian
women occnsionally cippcor as teachers. In addition to these roles. and aside from the rare
exceptions norcd above. the primary representation of C;li~c;~sionwomen is os domestic workers
within their own homes. It is not possible to detrmlinr solely tiom the photographic data if this
is an accurate representation of the gender and race of the lrtboilr force. Photographs
do not provide. and cannot be percci\*ed[u provide. statistical r~ccuracy". Photographic data are
intrinsically sprcitic and are not grnrralizriblr. The ~~bsenceof large numbers of women and
Black men from the photogaphs of many worksites in Di y by County on the days between
August 1950 and October 195 1 reveals sin~ply(albeit sipnikicantly ctnouyh) that large numbers of
women and Black men were not within the Collier canxrn's chosen tieid of vision at those
specific worksites on rhosct specific days.
--<* As it happens. the photographs appear to match the general profile of the labour force as provided by other sources. The census records of 195 I suggest there \\ere t'w employment opportunities for women outside the fish plants and the scl~ools.Statistics on occupation by race from that period are not available. However Pachni ( 1 990) notes that 19-15 represented the beginning of a period of change for Nova Scotia's Blacks. Describing the cmpl+~mentsituation for Blacks in the era prior to this period as extremely bleak. Pachai asserts: "It did not matter whether one was educated. skilled. semi-skilled. or unskilled. the result was the same: Blacks were employed i F and when other candidates were unavailable or unwilling" (p. 136).
Chapter 5 /mriges qf'Digby Cortnry in 1950-51 page 162 Work in the Homc
John Collier produced extended photographic porrruits of seven families. most of whom
had two or three children (with the one ssception bring a lirnily with five children). While most
of the visual data shou childcare provided at home by he children's own mothers. there are
exceptions. The epidemiological research project estrtbi ishrd a nursery school. photographed by
Collier, tbr the chilcfrcn of its researchers as well as for local children. In addition. one of the
Families photographed in extensive detail includes se\wal foster children. However. aside from
these cases. the photographs do not indicate a widesprrd pattern of families with alternative
childcare arrangements. It does not appcx. for rsctmplr. that childcare was shared among
several families or drlsgated to n neighbour on an ongoing. he-tor-service basis.
According to rcscarchrrs ot'clon~esticlaboiir ( Luston % Rosenberp. 1986: Fox. 1980: md
Connrlly & MncDonald. 1995. among others). the class position of women performing domestic
labour in their own family homes is, like the situation I'or tislrrrs. n complex issue. Within a
class analysis of women's work. domestic labour has t\vo cconomic and social functions: to
replenish the spent labour power of the prrire buwgeoisie md the proletariat by meeting the household's nerds for food. clothing. rtnd shelter. and to producr future labour power through child-bearing and child-rearing. Domestic labour was significantly transformed during the post- war period which gradually brought major improvemrnts to rural Atlantic Canada with advances
in plumbing. electricity. sewage disposal. and the availability of household appliances. The photographs show that many homes in Digby County in 1950-51 used wood stoves. outhouses. and hand-operated water pumps. Refrigerators. electric stoves. and washing machines are not in
Chapter 5 Images of'Digb~Cormh* in l9jU-jl puge 163 evidences3.
According to the photographs. most housework in Diyby County was performed - not surprisingly - by women working within their own homes either alone or with their families. A central premise of the concept of the modern home us it dcvcloprd in 20th century Nonh
America is the desirability of locating the amenities necessary for domestic labour - water. washing machines. sto\~s.and othrr cooking and cleaning applirinccs - within tach individual home. This annngement structures the ~urkin certain uays. maximizing convenience while simultaneously limiting opportunities br work-related socializing. Thus. unlike other types of work. most housework in Diyby Count! (3s in the rest of Canada) is done primarily within the home. without the support of regular md frequent social contact with a community of co-workers and peers. The vast majority of the imngcs taken in Digby County which depict domestic labour
- cooking. cleruning. and childcare - are images of women working within their own homes in isolation from other domestic laboiirrr~'~.Quilting offers an interesting exception.
3. The Photographs: Community
Community Formations
The second broad theme in the Collier photographs of Digby County relates to family and community social mi\-ities essential to life in rural and small-town communities. The concept of community. as indicated by the visual evidence of the photographs and supported by the field
'' It is worth remembering that microicavrs. toaster ovens. dish-iwhers. and fast-food restaurants have not yet appeared.
" One might expect shopping ro be an exception to this rulc. Houevrr there is an image oh housewife in her home \\ 110 appears to be ordering groceries from a rravrlling vendor. notes, appears to flow from several interrelated features: family. religion. occupation. race. linguistic-cultural group. gender. class. and geographic prosirnit);. Family. religion. and occupation appear to be particularly strong deiininy clements in determining community. Many of the social activities pivot around church and famiiy lifc. Because church and family in Digby
County tend to be intertwined with class. race. and lnnyilage. the images show limited social mixing across these di~isions.Two categories orcsceptions emerge from the images: Work- related bonds appear to cut across di ffirencss of religion and language. and location-based social events such as civic parades show Blacks and Caucasians participating as viewers at the same events. However since work tends to be determined largely by gmdrr and class (and for men by race). work-related communities arc inclined to be ipcler and class-spwi tic. and race-spccitic for men. The photographs suggest that ycographic prosinlit!. dso ;ictr.d 3s a barrier to broudl) inclusive communities. S incs many B lxks and Nati vss lived in segregated communities (an arrangement with roots in racism). communities determined by peoyraphy tend to be racially exclusive.
Racial divisions in Digby County are \risible in thc images. The schools were segregated by law until 1954 and the churches were segregated by tradition". Residential segregation and racial barriers in employment were also factors in thc li mi ted ctschanprs between Caucasians and
Blacks. John Collier photographed many school and ch~~rchevents in Digby County but. because of the project's terms of reference. only Caucasiun schools and churches. As a result the
Collier photographs are dominated by Caucasians. E-Iowever the work-related photographs
'' This tradition began with the earliest migrations of Blacks to the province when Blacks were specifically escluded from many churches. In 1 854 the African United Baptist Association was founded which. in response to the exclusionary tactics of the Caucasian-dominated churches. provided a separate ecclesiastical structure for Black Baptist churches (Pachai. 1 990).
Chapter 5 Images of Digby Corimy ii7 1950-5 l page 165 include some images of Black adults (particularly among the female fish-plant workers). and
Black children and Black adults appear in the photographs of civic social events. The only Black community that was photographed by John Collier axon rhc: occasion when that community was awarded the Dent Citizenship ..\ward.
Thus community within the Digby County images appears to be defined within relatively narrow parameters. As a result of wide-ranging and well-entrenched divisions between class. gender. religion. race. and language groups. social and i-ccrcotional activities (and work activities with a social and recrecltional component). \\bile unciouhtedly penerntcd by impulses towrds community and inclusion. are limited by a somewhat narrow rfotinition of conlmunity and indeed reveal an opposite impulse toumds ctsclusion. driven by Ji tt'erences in race. religion. gender. and class.
Social Activities
The social activities depicted in the Collier images include parades. oxen pulls. church suppers. dances. wedding receptions. bingos. ball games. and table games. The images ore full of specific details about style of clotl~rs.hats. and hair. t>pc.s of recreational activities. and patterns of socializing. The recreational activities appear simple. incspensivr. and primarily community-based and family-based - crokinole games. skeet-shooting contests. and dances with music provided by local bands. The apparel. deportment. demeanour. and patterns of interaction at these activities appear to reinforce the concept of community as based on class. religion. age. race. and gender.
Chapter 5 Itrtqes oj' Digbj. C'otmn, iu 1950-5 1 page 166 The photographs suggest that meals are a social activity in which the concept of community can be tracked. The degree of formality - 3s suggested by the table setting md the diners' apparel - varies according to the circumstances. The very tirst set of images taken by
John Collier when he arrived in Digby County in .-\ugust 1 W) show a gathering of approximately tifken adults who are shown seated c~roiind;in elaborately set table laden with pies. soup. and other dishes displayed in fine china. The mcn are wearing suits with ties and the women are ynrbsd in dresses and hats. These images procide a contrast to (I later series which show a logging crew in their work clothes eating a rudimentary men1 of sandwiches and coffce in tin cups. Using large boulders for table and chairs. the men are shown slicing a loaf of bread. In a similar photograph. a crew of four scallop fishers is shown crowded around n tiny table on- board serving tl~crnselwsa meal. The photographs inclde several images of group meals: a camp meal hr loggers (where the dishes cmbc srsn sturcd on a shelf that himys above the table). a wedding reception. n business mcal in a rrstaur:~nt dining room. an outdoor church community meal. and some examples of hmily mculs. .-\ contrast is provided with photographs of the same family shown eating meals srmed at the dining table and in the kitchen. Meal- related tasks art: included in some of the photographs: ..\ young girl is shown setting the family table: a mother is seen making a traditional Acadian dish.
Families
The notion of the nuclear family - which became. in the 1950s. an icon of conventionality and middle-class domesticity'" - is depicted in the Collier images of Digby County. Collier
'' See Wendy Kozol's ( 1994) examination ofL# magazine's co~ltributionto the ideology of domesticity wllich. she argues. sought to make conventional gender roles with distinct and separate spheres of inflt~encr:appear natural. universal. and ahistorid.
------Chapter 5 Images af - Digby Cutin/-vin IYjO-51 pugeI67 photographed seven families and two weddings. Most o f the family ponrai ts depict a dctinition
of family that is decidedly nuclear. blother. father. and children. posed with their household
possessions. present the conventional picture o E hcteroscsunl family life. Single parents are not
evident. Photographs o t' estended multi-ycnerational hmilies are limited to two families. Gays
and lesbians are not recognizable (which is hardly surprising since such relationships were illegal
prior to 1968. and continue to endure i~ncertainlegal stcttus and widespread social disapproval
particularly in rural communities).
Because the emphasis of the photographs is 011 thr public face of Digby County. it is not
surprising that there are no hints of ~iomcsricviolence. racial hatred. homophobia. child abuse.
pedophilia. or incest. This nbscnce \vithin ihc imagcs. a t'coursr. revculs nothing about either the
presence or absence of these problms iiom Digby Count!. Kozol ( 1094) in her examination of
post-war photographs ol' America in Li/> magazine contends that the ideology of domesticity. the
sanctity of thc family. and the myth uf mcitil hnrmony necessitated silence and concealment
around such human rights abuses.
The Coil icr photographs of Digby County include a surprising number of photographs
that depict close interactions between humans and animals. Images ol'rurill communities such as
those that comprise Digby County might be csprcted to include photographs of farm animals.
but many of thc images point to a relationship with domestic animals that appears mutually
nurturing. The bond of psychological connectiveness which is visible in the images of work activities in Digby County - demonstrated by close proximity. constant physical contact. and ongoing tactility - is reinforced in these images of interactions between humans and animals.
Chapter 5 ln~agesof'Digb-v Curmp IYI l9IO-51 puge / 68 Communication Technology
The twentieth century has witnessed an explosion in communication technology which began with the development of popill;ir magazines and the movie industry and continued with radio. television. and more recently the internet. In the 1950s the primary media for exchanging ideas and acquiring infclrmation in Digby County (as in other pans of the countr?;) were expanded tiom books. newspapers. tl~xlmaynzinrs ru rdi~(tmd eventuall? tu tdek isim 1. ~IC photographs display occasional examples ot'tidults rcxiinp. although many of the photographs are clearly posed: indeed. in one of the images. the reader is holding his book upside down. -4 church discussion group is also included. The photognphs show occasionnl ct.uurnp1t.s of community improvement projects-". such as 3 fund-mising event for the local l~ospital(which. although attended primarily by Coucssinns. demonstrates an infrequent instance of racial mixing at a community social went ). The DmCitizcnship .-\ward ceremony which provided John
Collier with an opportunity to visit a Blxk cammunit! hall is an example uf a community improvement went. The award C~S~IIIOII!giiw the cunmi~nityan occasion 10 ~fkr~hr visiting dignitaries a performance of local talent and a reception at the community hall. The photographs show the award ceremony 3s an elaborate community event which included performances by local singers and musicians. The owrall effect is an engaging one of humble circumstances and proud presentation.
The only other evidence of nun-church community development activities in the Digby
" There are many examples of inno\ ntive community drvrlopment projects in other parts of the Maritime region during this er3: the co-opmtive movement. led by Moses Coady and Father Jimmy Thompkins. which was active in Cape Breton iind Antigonish County: the atiss popdtrzre movement which had roots in rural New Brunswick: and the adult education movement. initiated by Dr. William P. Oliver (a Black Nova Scotian). which focused on literacy and self-help projects in Black communities throughout Nova Scotia beginning in 1946.
--- Chuprer 5 lnrrlges of'Digby COW~.rll I Oj0-5f pugel69 County photographs appears in an all-male citizens' meeting, a meeting of the Board of
Commerce (where all the visible participants. except for a recording secretary. are mm).and in
the presence of the epidemiological research project itself which made considerable use of
business and political leaders for support. While the Collier photographs strongly point to
church and family as loci of community. they offer no obvious indication that common social ur
political ideas (such as the co-operative movement) served as defining features of cornmunit>.
Radio appears in occasional images. and on one occasion Collier photographed the
interior of a movie theatre. Radio had long been an important source of infomlation in the
fishing villages of Digby County because of the marine weather reports. but the entertainment
value of the local radio station" was increasing as was its ability to provide immediate (and
sometimes dramatic) coverage of the national and international nrws. Collier photographed a quilting bee while its members worked on quilts which were to be sent to the kIanitobn Flood
Relief as part of an aid package. The flood in 1OjO'" presented the province of Manitoba u ith a serious disaster and news of the devastating impact on the lives of Manitobans inspired offers of assistance from all parts of Canada. It is likely that radio played a role in the delivery of this nrws and in the hct that the working people of Digby County were roused to assist their counterparts in Manitoba.
'' During this period. radio's potential as an adult education tool was also explored in many parts of Canada. Excerpts from Moses Coady's CJFX radio broadcasts - "The Antigonish Way'' - are included in The Manfiorn Margarre. Wrifingsmd Speeches of MILL C'uta 59 This event was recalled recently with the 1997 Manitoba flood. which was frequently compared to the flood of 1950. Chaprer 5 Images of Digby Corrny in I 950-51 pugel 70 Hiding from the Camera A few images show people who are obviously hiding their faces from the camera. This curious response to the camera could indicate mere self-consciousness or the manifestation o fa definite desire not to be photographedb0. As Susan Sontag ( 1973) has pointed out. a salient aspect of photography is the photographer's claim of ownership over the tlerting moment. According to Sontag. this claim can be experienced by the subjects as an act of aggression which entails the appropriation not only of the event being photographed. but also of the representation of the subjects. Given these dynamics. it is not surprising that camera phobia is a common phenomenon. The Digby County images depicting subjects deliberately covering their faces (and. in one case. a subject who effectively subverts the photographer's intention to capture a natural moment by flamboyantly waving ut the camera) reveal an element oftension between photographer and photographed. Whether this act of concealment was calculated. playful. transitory. or reflesive. it discloses a refusal - an understandable and even commendable refusal - to participate passively in the photographer's wish to scrutinize with impunity. and it defines a community that does not - at least not at that moment - include the camera. 4. ThePhotographs: Landscape The Natural and Constructed Landscape The landscape depicted in the Collier images incl es both the natural and the constructed landscape of Digby County. Most of the 4 X 5 work is comprised of landscapes: in Photographic practices are culturally determined. In most cultural traditions. taking photographs is taboo in certain circumstances: indeed in some traditions. the circumstances which allow photographs to be made, particularly by outsiders. are limited. Chapter 5 hages of Digby Colrnty in 1950-51 page 1 71 addition, Collier took many landscape images with the 120 and 35mm cameras. The images can be grouped by content into three overlapping categories: the natural ternin including countryside. forests. sky. and gsological formations: the constructed landscape of farms. towns. and villages. showing farmhouses. churches. stores. and dwellings: and the coastline. depicting seascapes, boats. wharves. weirs. sheds. docks, and the waterfront. Many of the images are exquisitely composed. showing what appears to be a perfect encounter between what is natural and what is constructed. In some. the elements of earth. water, and air combine to fon1.1 a habitat that is strikingly beautiful. simple and graceful. displaying retlecticns. repeating shapes. and curving lines. Human activity is visible in virtually all the landscapes. revealed by the presmcr: of buiidings. boats. and peopie. The human figure is occasionally used as a compositional strategy to offset the large scale of the landscape. Buildings As background to the work activities (as well as in some photographs serving as the central subjcc t) are commercial. industrial. educational. religious. and government structures such as stores. sheds. factories. post office. fish processing plants. and schools. The schools of Digby County in 1950 and 195 1. in the en before consolidation. racial integration. and estmsiw government regulation. tended to be small. segregated. organized by religious denomination. and reflective of the resources and standards of the particular communities in which they were located. Only the schools in Caucasian communities were photographed by Collier. although some of the images include a handful of Black students6'. Pachai (1990). Henry ( 1973). 61 An 1884 amendment to the provincial Education Act (the legislation which from 1876 to 1954 denied Black children access to public schools) allowed Black students to attend public schools in areas (primarily urban areas) where there was no Black schooi because of insufficient numbers of Black families. Chapter 5 Imuges of Digby Colrnp in 1950-5 I puge f '2 Clairmont and Wien (1 975), Best ( 1977). and Oliver (1964) describe the conditions in the province's segregated schools prior to 1954 as severely inadequate with deficient school buildings. insufficient numbers of trained teachers. and no programs beyond the elementar?: grades. Many of the segregated schools were closed for years or wen decades at a stretch because of a lack of teachers. The photographs of the public schools reveal conditions that. by today 's somewhat overdeveloped standards. appear limited in their equipment and facilities. To be clear. the quality ofeducation received in these schools is impossible to assess using only the visual data. Heated by wood stoves. the schools offered large classrooms with shared desks arranged in parallel rows and facing the front of the class. The general atmosphere in the classrooms appears serious and disciplined. and the interactions between students and teachers are depicted as kindly. The images of children playing during recess ofkr a familiar portrait of children happil! exchanging their studious burdens for the lively chaos of the play ground. The teachers include religious nuns as well as lay teachers (both men and women). Objects with Text Also visible in images depicting the interior and exterior surroundings are objects with teat: calendars. posters. advertisements. gravestonesb? and business signs. As might be expected " Gravestones are an overlooked and fascinating source of social history. as Deborah Trask points out in her 1978 book, Lqe How Shot-r. Ererrriy HUM*Long: Grtwesrone C'trrvincy md CV~trversin .Vomr Scorr'r. Trask argues that the iconography of gravestones (angel heads. skulls. trumpets. urns. willows. hands. flowers. and the like). as well as the content ofthe text (Biblical quotes. cause of death. family relationships. occupation and ethnic ity of the deceased), provide information about the contemporary social and economic conditions. Collier photographed several 19th century gravestones in Digby County. in a rural setting in the period betbre the smcture and infrastructure of a globalized economy began to develop. there are few commercially produced business signs and bill boards (although the ubiquitous Coca-Cola logo makes m appearance). The absence of such signs is particularl~ striking in comparison to the present-day reliance on commercial visual icons which proliferate the landscape of the 1990s. The photographs of vernacular signage - graphics. text. design. and content of the signs - speak directly to issues of commerce. ownership. possession marking. and social values. Two scrawled signatures appear on a sawn log in one image. A hand-printed sign is visible on the wall of a movie theatre: "Penalty $50.00 for bursting a paper bag in this theatre". In many of the photographs of the interiors of residences and businessss. the viewer can see a surprising plethora of wall calendars. which arc 3 particularized form u t'vsrnacular signage. In several cases. a number of calendars appear in close proximity to each other suggesting that their function went beyond informing their owners of the date. Of varying sizes. most of the calendars depict a single photograph or drawing. often an inoffensive rusric or maritime scene (although a machine shop boasts a mildly risque portrayal of a woman whose clothes are artfully dishevelled). The overwhelming majority of these calendars was produced by local businesses and their names are prominently displayed. Serving perhaps as inexpensive (and annually updated) wail decoration as well as indicators of loyalty to particular shops. the calendars provide a visual indication of the close integration between community and local businesses in Digby County. Chapter 5 Images of Digby Cormn) in / 950-51 page 1-4 5. Summary The Collier photographs represent the people of Digby County as busy. productive. hard- working, cheerful. generous. intelligent. and strong. A viewer gets the distinct impression that Collier respects. enjoys. admires. and empathizes with the people he is photographing. His depiction. while not overtly or obviously romanticized. is nevertheless an idealized vision of a community at work. By honouring the endeavours of the 'ordinary' working person. the photographs celebrate productivity. activity. and toil. They convey a general impression of understated and evr~dayheroism. Epitomizing the "pictorial code of heroism". to use John Tagg's term (1 988). the images represent the social values of the post-Depression era and draw on the photojournalistic convention of using metonymy as n narrative strategy. Collier's photographs of Digby County reveal a high level of physical interaction and tactility. with a strong psychological connectivenrss between community members. close proximity with the landscape. and constant physical contact with tools. materials. and animals. Although there is a clear depiction of unending activity. the emphasis in Collier's work-related images is not on futile labour in the face of overwhelming hardship or feeble gains acquired with excessive exertion and repetitive work. narratives that a different photographer working in a different site at a different time may have chosen. Frustration. conflict. futility. monotony. and ineffectiveness are largely absent from the images. Instead the overall effect is one of diverse communities. separated by class. race. and gender. but connected through physical contact. mutual dependency. common aspirations. and shared labour that appears to be extremely dificult. but nevertheless varied. productive. rewarding, and socially engaging. The identities of the disparate communities appear in the Collier images to be primarily Chapter 5 Images of'Digby Coirnty in 1950-51 pagel -5 defined by and expressed through the prisms of culture. language. religion. and race. Recreational activities are perceived to be intrinsically woven into community events and work- related endeavours. The l~ldscapeas depicted in the photographs functions as a symbol of opportunity and unity. Conflicting interests of class. race. and gender are obscured. The landscape of Digby County. which is portrayed by Collier as a comples and perpetually transmutative encounter between natural and constructed surroundings. appears as a compelling presence demanding hard work. rewarding with equitable bounty. and offering unification of community. This iconography of landscape imagery tbm~edan intrinsic part of the photographic lexicon of the 1950s. Characteristic of the post-war period. a strong spirit of optimism and confidence pervades the images. buoyed by the abundant resources of the landscape. the connective delineation of community. and the stamina. fonitude. and resilience of the ~vorkers. The photographs represent n perspective that is retlectivr of the contemporary zeir,yeist. The absence of images that acknowledge human rights abuses reveals the presence of the dominant ideology which was silent on these issues. The content provides specific and detailed social information. While the images' function of representation is evident. their capacity to provoke dialogue and to encourage retlection on social conditions must also be recognized. Despite the overwhelming spirit of optimism. a viewer looking at the photographs fifty years later - equipped with hindsight. apprised of approaching adversity - cannot fail to see signs of hidden dangers to the local economy. diversified labour force. and regional culture. lurking in the capitaliza?ion and mechanization of the fishing industry. advances in communication technolog>.. and indications of a globalizing economy. While the images suggest that Digby County is on the threshold of change. they do not insinuate a paradise soon to be lost; there are signs that badly ppppp Chapter 5 Images of Digby Cotrnp in 1 9 50-51 page I 76 needed and intensely welcome social advances are corning as well. Hints at developments in social eqvity appear in the images of women in the fish plants and of the presentation ceremony for the Dent Citizenship Award. The heavy physical burdens of workers visibly signify the nerd for mechanization. The community efforts to raise funds for a hospital indicate pressures towards collective health care. The appearance of an embryonic communications and information technology anticipate a broadening discourse and rising expectations. The Collier images point to the arenas of work. community. and landscape - embodied by the logging camps. schools. factories. boats. fish plants. churches. stores. farms. woodlots. and docks of Digby County - as critical locales for assessing the vitalit!. idmtiry. and overall well- being of the county. It is to these sites that we turned our camera. Chapter 5 lnlages of Digb~vCaun~ in 1950-jI page 1 " Chapter Six Images of Digby County in 1998 The Digby County photographic collection offers an invaluable opportunity for a follow- up project which could compare past and present circumstances by photographing the same sites and. when possible. the some people. In recent years. many such projects based on FS.A photographs have been produced. An example is .-fctrtlirmHard Tinles (Doty. 1991 ) which uses the photographs of John Collier Jr. and Jack Delano of Acadian families in Maine in the 1940s as the basis for a photographic study of the same families in the late 1980s. Collicr's photographs are also the subject of Hetwtitmtl New .L~L's~co:Photogrcrplisfiom [he Ftrrrn Seczirity .klministrrion 1935-43 (Wood. 1989) which featured interviews with the subjects of Collier's photographs. In Dzrst Bowl Descenr ( 1984). Bill Ganzel traced. interviewed. and photographed the subjects of Dorothea Lsnyc rmd Arthur Rothstein's best known FSA photographs. The FSA photographs of Arkansas were given a similar treatment in .-IPhorognrphic Le,ytq*by Wilmrr Counts Jr. ( 19?9). The subjects of Let L!Y.VOW Prcrise F~rmorrsiLfen. a classic work by lames Agee and FSA photographer Walker Evans. were located and re-photographed by Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson in .-Inti Their C/zi/chnrl3rc.r Therrz: The Lrgqv of' 'Let Ck Now Praise Ftrrnolrs hlen': Jmes .+ye. Ckdker Evans. cmd the Rise and Foil of'Cbtton in the South (1989). All of these studies have incorporated input from the subjects of the original projects through photographs and interviews. This input provided a way to compare 'then' with 'now'. The Collier photographs of Digby County might eventually provide the basis for such a -- - Chapter 6 Images ofDig&_l-.Cormr_c. in I Y 98 page 1 '5 follow-up photographic project. This is not that study. Although permission to interview John Collier's original subjects using the photographs as discussion aids was granted by the principal investigator of the original epidemiological study. permission was conditional on the investigator's approval ot'the choice of subjects and the question schedule. Logistical problems. time constraints. and a lack of agreement about the selection of the subjects made these terms unworkable. As a result. the focus for this dissertation shifted from a comparison of past and present Digby County using photographs and interviews to an analysis ofthr Collier photographs and of their usefulness in an esamination of current conditions. Nevertheless. the analysis of the 1950-5 I photographs led me to speculate about how the conditions of present-day Digby County might be photographed. and how these conditions ~~ould look before the photographing eye. This speculation resulted in the photographs presented in this chapter. These photographs were taken on four separate occasions in 1998: in mid-March. mid- April. late October. and early November. Twelve rolls of 120 tilm (1 80 images) and five rolls of 3mm tilrn ( 180 images) were produced from which 66 images were chosen for reproduction (reproduced on pages 1 56-2 19). The photographs dcpic ting Digby County in 1 998 were produced under conditions quite different from those that informed the work of John Collier. and resulted in photographs very different from Collier's. The producing conditions created several key defining parameters which delineated the photographic project. The most significant parameter was that the camera considered only publicly available spaces seen from the perspective of an outsider. The centre of interest of the 1998 photographs lies. not in the working people of Digby County (which was Collier's nucleus in 1950). but in the physical structures. settings. and landscapes within which Chapter 6 Images of Digb-v Cotmy in I 998 page 1 79 the inhabitants of Digby County in 1998 live and work. Within the restrictions of photographing a physical structure, setting. or landscape that was publicly available. the subject matter closely follows Collier's choices. Collier's content was determined by the overall objective ofthe epidemiological research project which was to investigate the relationship between sociocultural conditions and psychiatric disorder within the county. The focus for my project was the Collier photographs and what they reveal about the social and economic conditions of Digby Count): in 1998. The themes expressed in the 1998 photographs reflect the interests. perspective. crcatiw decisions. and limitations of an individual photographer. This sit~~ationis unlike the working conditions for John Collier who worked within an anthropological framework and a decision- making process that involved other social scientists. My photographs. produced from a perspective infom~cdby adult education. were taken in order to contribute to an ongoing process of dialogue within the communities of Digby County about community development. While the choice of camera tbrmat (like Collier's) included both 120 and 35mm (although not 3 view camera). the choice of film was colour negative. an option that was not available to ColIieP'. The decision to work in colour was made because I felt that the additionai social information provided by recording colour values outweighed the tendency of colour images to romanticize and arsthr ticize. There is social meaning associated with the woods man*^ red shirt. the Acadian tri-colours. the blue cloak of the religious statue. the red barn. the mainly white houses in the English communities. and the brightly coloured structures in the Acadian communities. '' Colour negative film was introduced in 1941. but not widely marketed until the mid-1950s. Colour processing facilities were nut available in rural Nova Scotia in 1950-5 1. - - Chapter 6 Images of Digby Counh-in I 9 98 puye IY(J There were several features about the producing conditions of this project that made these parameters seem both appropriate and necessary. Firstly the decision to photograph only sites that were publicly accessible sprang directly from ongoing concerns about consent and confidentiality which tlowed from the dissertation project's connection to the original epidemiological projrct. I did not have permission to connect my research into the Collier photographs with the epidemiological project. This made the working conditions problematic. In order to photograph people. I required their informed consent. Without permission from the original epidemiological project researchers. I could not refer to the project. and ethical considerations precluded the possibi ti ty of my photographing people without declaring this connection. It was not feasible to rsplain the purpose of my photographic project accurately. fully. clearly. and succinctly without referring to the earlier photographs by John Collier. The absence of informed conscnt (including the knowledge that my project had an explicit connection to the epidemiological research project) memt that it was not ethical for me to take pictures ul' people for this project. Thus. from a pragmatic viewpoint. photographing sites that were unpeopled. publicly available. and did not necessitate permission was the simplest way to ensure that the project could proceed both expeditiously and ethically. However it was not only necessity that led to my decision to photograph the social landscape without people. In previous photographic projects. Ihave been drawn to reproducing street signs. building exteriors. markings. and other public manifestations of social conditions. Influenced by Eugene Atgrt (a 19th century photographer who documented the city of Paris by photographing shops. residences. historic monummts. and parks). my photographic work has concentrated on the material world. particularly the constructed landscape. Throughout my Chapter 6 Images of Digby Counr_v in I Y 98 page 181 images. I attempt to use a reality that is physically tangible and publicly observable as a conduit to a reality that may be indiscernibly and privately experienced but has broad and amorphous social impiications. Unlike John Collier whose work displays a prevailing interest in people's relationships and responses to their social circumstances. my own photographic preoccupations are largely based on an examination of the physical evidence of social issues. In particular 1 am interested in signs. in the appearance of the written word. Complex. and sometimes contradictory. social messages about the recipient. the sender. and the semiotic contest are conveyed through the medium of the written word. Signs communicntr ownership. function. and location ("klcDonald's". "Kwik Wily Lottery Centre". and "Little River Post Officer") Some messages bluntly convey social rules and restrictions ("no hunting". "persons using this wharf do so at your own risk"). while others. using tho language and conventions of advertising. make promises md offer gratuitous. overblown pledges ("much more videos". "free estimates"). The content of all of these photographs is social information. Through choice of language. test substance. graphics. and visual formatting. signs convey messages. But it is not only text-based signs that offer social information. Physical markings on the natural and constructed landscape reveal the permeation of a broad-based. popular-culture discursive network within idiosyncratic. localized conditions. A religious statue hooked to an electrical outlet. a satellite dish located nest to a fishing shack. a barn decorated with a billboard. an advertisement for a local hmily business that makes reference to an American family sitcom television show. a fishing boat for sale. a school playground funded by corporate sponsors. lobster traps presented as ' folk art'. these visual symbols hmction as non-verbal signs which Chapter 6 Images of Digby C701inh in / Y 98 page I82 communicate to the inhabitants of Digby County multifarious ideas about changing social values. shifting realities. juggled priorities. and complex social incongruities and compromises. While the style and the content of my photographs differs significantly from that of John Collier's. the subject matter is close1y related. John Collier's images were focused specifically on the sociocultural conditions of Digby County: I have discussed his photographs by using three broad themes: work. community. and landscape. My photographs are also concerned with the social and economic conditions: I chose to use the same themes that 1 had identitied as significant in Collirr's work. but elected to consider these conditions by focusing not on the people but on their surroundings. My photographs of Digby County abound with contrasts and comparisons. between the past and the present. between the local and the international economy. and between the promise and the actuality: X church is reincarnated as a barn: Irving prospers with timber companies and well-placed gas stations. while the modest community library shows signs of neglect: McDonald's golden c~rches.an icon that is familiar worldwide. co-exist with the local tish market. Threats to employment opportunities and community formations appear in the images o t' satellite dishes and video rental stores. boardrd-up factories and service stations. boats for sale and crumbling piers. Signs of creative responses to new circumstancrs are visible in new computer technology. emu farms. and the marketing of folk art: and Acadian cultural iconography endures. The corporate sector appears in a role that formerly belonged to government as the traditional provider of education. The landscape - both natural and constructed - prevails. offering opportunities. challenges. and constants. My photographic approach utilized two specific components of John Collier's Chapter 6 Images of Bigby Cbtm~in 1998 page 183 methodology, described in his 1967 book Vislrol Anrhropology. Collier advised beginning a project by photographing in the public domain: my photographs begin (and remain) in the public arena. Collier suggested employing the strategy of the panorama. photographing a series of images from a single tixed location: this technique was used in the photographs shown on pages 204.207.2 10. and 2 17. Although the images of Digby County that appear in this chapter are iinpeoplrd. in fact the county's population is the sane as it was in 1950 (approximately 20.000). Like the people in Collier's photographs. the present-day inhabitants of Digby County have unique personalities. diverse opinions. and interesting stories. Travelling around Digby County. I met many Fascinating. generous. and singular individuals. Indeed I was oHen reminded of the faces thot I saw in Collier's photographs. They estended their hospitality. engaged me in amiable conversation (in both French and English). md cordidly offered their thoughts on topics that ranged from the state of the fishing stocks to computer software to the weather. We rschan@ pleasantries. opinions. and stories. but I did not photograph them. I chose instead to photograph their surroundings. These surroundings include a railway track thot has not seen a train in twenty years and ends abruptly at the county line: boats (with names as diverse and individual as people) moored to a common dock: abandoned fish plants and boarded-up factories: a lath mill (also photographed by Collier fortyeight years earlier) that continues to flourish. expanding its facilities as I photographed: fast-food restailrants that fill strip malls: second-hand clothing stores; post offices; woodstands: coves: wharves: signs: cemeteries: and back roads. The present-day communities of Digby County are engaged. much as they were in the 1950s. in work-related activities that are determined largely by the landscape. particularly the sea - - Chapter 6 Images of Digby Coung in 1998 page 184 and the woods: they demonstrate culrurrtl expressions that continue to be diverse. vibrant. and heritage-driven: and they are con~prisedof community formations that are based on physical proximity and shared activities 'and valucs. But as the photographs depict. those communities are under siege. The images show satellite dishes. billboards for multinational corporations. an abandoned railway line. a business endeavour promoting military-style survival games. forsaken fish plants. and fast food work sites o t'fering jobs that have been fie-skilled and de-valued. The men and women of Digby County art: making history. as they were in 1950. under conditions not of their own choosing"'. In the Ic190s. these conditions include the collapse of the tishing industry. mounting prcssurcs from n globalized economy and culture. shifts in ,(Tot'ernmt'nt funding patterns. and the dmmntic sspansion ol'thr global entenainment industry. These threats. visible in the photographs. repream the challenges faced by Dipby County today. This statement paraphrases Karl Mars's famous dictum from The Eighteenth Bncrnaire of Louis Bo~tapn~r(1 852f1963): "Men make their own history. but they do not make it just as they please: they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves. but under circumstances existing already. given and transmitted from the past" (p. IS). Chapter 6 Images of Digby C'ourrty in 1998 puge I8j ~7llrprl.1-t5 11nc1yc.srl/'Digb>. Cotrt~~. in / 995 page 191 it6 htlges q'Digbx Coutln. in I 1) I)S puge 101 Chapter 6 Images of Digby County in 1998 page 204 v County in 1998 page 204 Chapter 6 Images of Digby County in 1998 page 20 7 page 207 Ci1trprc.1-6 f~tt~r~gt'~s,I]' Diybr. Coririy 111 / 098 pugr 208 Chapter 6 Images oJDigby County in 1998 page t 10 page 2 10 Cfrtrpiel-6 hrtnges ofDigb.1' Counn in 1998 puge 215 Chaprer 6 Images of Digby Comfy in 1998 page 21 7 Chapter Seven Conclusion At the very time that John Collier was fixing the shadows cast on the light-sensitive silver halides in his cameras, those shadows were fading. Digby County was gradually being reconfigured. The forces that would soon bring major social change to the county appear in the photographs as harbingers that foreshadow the future. The harbingers are discernible in Collier's images of large draggers with the capacity to land huge quantities of fish; civic celebrations that include both Blacks and Caucasians; fish plants with women workers; advertisements and logos for multinational corporations; anomalies to a rigid gender-driven division of labour: and radios. movies theatres. and telephones. Driven by a plethora of intertwining social change pressures such as bureaucratization of the fishery, industrialization of rural life, decline of farming, consolidation of the schools, advances in civil rights, women's liberation movement. globalization and capitalization of the local economy, growth of the entertainment. communications, and information technologies, fluctuations in government presence (expanding in the 1950s and contracting in the 1990s), and the collapse of the fishing industry, the changes to Digby County since Collier photographed are profound. The impact of these social shifts on the lives of the individual men and women who live in Digby County today, the descendants and survivors of the subjects of John Collier's photographs, has been multifaceted. Many physical burdens have been eased: Logging has been mechanized, domestic labour ameliorated, and transportation accelerated. The living standards as measured by indoor plumbing, domestic central heating, and private ownership of consumer Chapter 7 Cor~clusion page 22 0 goods such as motor vehicles, televisions, and washing machines have dramatically improved. Opportunities to offset isolation and intolerance are more widely available as a result of advances in education, transportation, and communication. Racially segregated schools receiving widely disparate government support are no longer sanctioned. Paid employment opportunities for women outside the home have increased. Despite these significant social and economic advances, the area remains underdeveloped compared with other parts of the country. Unemployment is high and opportunities are few. Social dislocation continues to exact its toll from individuals and families who are forced to leave Digby County to find work. Cultural disruption shows signs of acceleration as a consequence of an imported entertainment industry and other pressures towards assimilation. Vestiges, and the long-term effects, of historic structural racism perpetuate the squandering of valuable human resources for Blacks and Natives. More disturbing still is the escalation of these problems as a result of a current two-pronged economic crisis: the collapse of the fishing industry and significant alterations to federal funding patterns. This crisis is occurring against a backdrop that includes rapid technological innovations in information and communication. and major transformations in the organization of global capital. These circumstances, visible in the photographs of present-day Digby County, are precipitating widespread reactions which are happening quickly and in disparate directions. Individuals, businesses, and communities are facing hard choices about the future. Alone, within their families, collectively, and through government mechanisms, the inhabitants of Digby County's villages and towns are weighing the risks, assessing the ramifications. examining the past, and anticipating the future. With danger ------Chapter 7 Conclusion page 22 1 comes opportunity, and the present situation offers Digby County the potential for community development. The research question considered by this dissertation project converges around the efficacy of the Collier collection as a tool for observing and analysing social change. The project concludes that while the Digby County photographs do not offer objectivity or neutrality, they nevertheless present a valuable and effective tool for social inquiry and dialogue. Produced within a domain structured by inequitable power relations, utilizing a medium characterized by decontextualization and fragmentation, and based on an empirical approach unaware of its own potential for transformative impact, the visual research data were created from a particularized point of view. Like other intellectual constructs, photographs are carriers of ideology which tend to reflect and replicate the prevailing beliefs of the context that generated them; they inevitably draw on an ideological and cultural network to convey meaning. However. as Barthes ( 1982) points out, photographs have no single independent meaning but many possible meanings depending upon context and use. Their merit as a research tool is dependent on how the images are used, by whom, and for what purpose. Like other forms of qualitative research data, photographic images contribute description and specificity. If photographs are not (and indeed cannot be) objective, they are nevertheless convincing narratives. Thus, as cultural artifacts, they provide visual sites of struggle over meaning. Photographs tell stories. There is a deliberate ambiguity embedded in this statement which stems from the fact that 'story-telling' (a reference to the recounting of a narrative for purposes such as information, edification, commemoration, instruction, and entertainment) is also a colloquialism for prevarication. This ambiguity provides an apt symbol for photography's Chapter 7 Conclusion page 222 role in observing and analysing social change. Photographs do not always tell the truth, but they invariably tell stories; that is, they provide visual narratives that seek to describe, communicate. convince, and inform. The Collier photographs are exceptionally effective as stories because of the particular circumstances that led to their creation. Based on a broad approach to social inquiry, created in conditions that facilitated an attitude of respect and a close personal involvement between the photographer and the subjects, taken by a skilled, sensitive, compassionate, and intensely curious photographer, this very large collection is a rich source of visuai data and specific social information. Because the medium has an historical claim to authenticity and transparency. and because photographs resemble reality, the process of interpreting photographs tends to be unmediated. But interpretation is inevitable; and the usefulness of these photographs in the observation and analysis of social change is inextricably tied to the process of interpretation. Since the meaning of images is constructed within a specific political and historical context. the interpretation process must draw on particularizedhowledge of the photographed conditions. The intellectual framework for the use of photography as a tool of social science must be mediated. thoughtful, and clearly formulated. The key feature in the analytical process is an overarching strategy of interactive production of meaning, which involves consciously integrating the visual information provided by the photographs with other sources of information. such as historical research, critical analysis of the content, triangulation (including oppositional perspectives), personal engagement with the subject matter, and knowledge of the power relations, cultural practices, and communicating conventions embedded in the production and viewing of the photographs. Chapter 7 Conclusion page ,123 The Collier photographs are a celebration of productivity, community, and interpersonal connections in Digby County. The images honour work, family, community, and close emotional and physical contact among the people, animals, and surroundings. Consistently conveying idealism and optimism, the photographs depict communities connected through mutual dependency, common aspirations, and shared toil. Drawing on the social values or the post-Depression era and the confidence of the post-war period, the photographs effectively communicate hope. In the process the images convey information that allow other readings. readings equally driven by current events, values, and conventions. Collier's representation of fishing trawlers and rudimentary farming implements may be interpreted quite differently by the viewing audience of the late 1990s sensitized to the hazards of environmental upheaval and technoiogical revolution; the images of racially segregated schools resonate with tragedy when seen in light of the continuing struggles towards racial equity; the Collier photographs of material simplicity and cultural wealth seem a particularly vibrant combination when viewed against today's conditions of satellite receptors and video stores importing a culture far removed from Digby County's realities and heritage. The context that produces the meaning associated with the Digby County photographs has been transformed by political and social changes. As a result, other readings of the images have become not only possible, but impossible to ignore. Thus the photographs of the past reveal the circumstances of the present. As creative expressions, photographs draw on precepts of design and composition for communication strategies intrinsic to the medium. The Digby County photographs, created by a professional and sensitive photographer, convey meaning by directly appealing to the emotions. To mitigate the tendency to evoke nostalgia, romanticization, and aestheticism, the Digby Chapter 7 Conclusion page 224 County photographs have been read from a perspective based within an informed context of the social and economic conditions. Further analysis could usefully draw on a knowledge base with first-hand personal familiarity with the historic circumstances. A significant shareholder within this knowledge base is the group of subjects whose realities are represented by the photographs. the men and women photographed by John Collier in 1950 and their descendants. the present-day inhabitants of Digby County. As John Collier (1 967) points out, photographic data are specific and detailed. The camera, like a fine-rneshed fishing net, catches more than is sought. The challenge in using photographs for social research lies in sorting out what is to be kept and what is to be returned to the ocean for another day's catch. The key to this process rests with developing a serviceable analytical methodology. The method used to analyse the Collier photographs was formed by considering significant shifts in the Xving and working conditions in Digby County since 1950. focusing on those social and economic shifts which represent fluctuating and ongoing processes of change with widespread social impact and which began before 1950 and have continued into the late 1990s. These social change themes were then compared with the content of the Collier photographs. Using this method, it was discovered that the visual data provided by the Collier photographs predict the future. To be clear, this analytical approach depicts the power of hindsight more accurately than foresight. Because the harbingers predicting the hreare camouflaged and obscured in the photographs by signs of a past that is in the process of elapsing, the precursors of imminent change are easier to detect in retrospect than for prognostication. Nevertheless the progress of advancing changes can be tracked by tracing changes through photographs from the past. While the usefulness of photographs as instruments of evidence is dubious, the Collier photographs can nevertheless serve an important function in the discourse on social change as stories which personalize, stimulate, illustrate, entertain, challenge, and engage. Finely crafted. emotional 1y expressive, and aesthetically evocative, the photographs provide visual benchmarks for a potential follow-up photographic project. Offering specific and detailed descriptions of a way of life that is no longer extant, the photographs extend to the communities of present-day Digby County a valuable tool for reflection and dialogue, education and development, response and when necessary resistance. As social narratives, the Collier photographs provide a bridge between the circumstances of the past and those of the present, between experiences that are personal and those that are shared. Although the shadows photographed by Collier have faded. their presence is still felt. Social shifts follow from a long and complex series of decisions, events, and occurrences. some originating as individual experiences and some determined by organizations. communities. and governments. The past shapes the present. and current conditions inform an understanding of the past. The Collier photographs suggest that the vitality. identity. and overall well-being of the county can be appraised by looking to the arenas of work. community. and landscape. These are the areas that Digby County needs to attend as it seeks an answer to the query that has troubled Maritimers since Confederation and that has arisen with ever more pressing import in the face of the current crisis: What are the prospects for a sustainable healthy economy? The answer to this question abides within the communities that comprise Digby County. An intrinsic tenet of adult education is that communities have the knowledge and the means to formulate responses to problems within their own communities. The Collier photographs of Digby County provide both Chapter 7 Conclusion page 226 a tool for extending the communities' knowledge and a method for engaging people in the problem-solving process of discussing the predicaments and aspirations of their communities. The goal of this dissertation project has been twofold: to consider the theoretical issue of the use of photographs as a tool for observing and analysing social change, and to examine John Collier's photographs of Digby County within a framework of social inquiry into current conditions. The next logical step is the development of a conceptual model for using Collier's photographs in an adult education project. Such a model could consist of a display of the original photographs, interviews with the subjects of the Collier photographs, or a follow-up photographic project. The presenting format could be a book, a film. an exhibit. or a web site on the internet. The photographs could be linked to community development workshops. adult education programs, or development stratagem sessions. There are many possible directions. The crucial feature of any conceptual model for using the Collier photographs as a tool for understanding social change is the availability of the photographs to present-day Digby County. Despite scepticism about photography's self-serving claims to be both objective witness and concerned idealist, Casting Shadows Now and Then was written with the assumption that photographs offer the viewer a powerful, credible, and effective means to visualize and understand social change. Indeed it was this conviction that provided the starting point for an examination of the Digby County photographs. Photographs do not provide a facsimile for reality; reality is too big and moves too fast (and sometimes in patterns not visually discernible) to fit within the confines of a photograph. 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