RETHINKING HERITAGE AND PHOTOGRAPHY COMPARATIVE CASE STUDIES FROM CYPRUS AND CAMBODIA Colin Philip Sterling 2015 UCL Research Degree: Institute of Archaeology Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1 I, Colin Philip Sterling, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Abstract This thesis critically examines the complex interrelationship of heritage and photography, focusing in particular on the photographic life of two heritage sites: Angkor in Cambodia and the town of Famagusta, Cyprus. The core line of enquiry guiding this research concerns the various processes through which photography might be said to ‘shape’ heritage (and vice-versa). To this end I begin by outlining a theoretical framework that addresses the idea of ‘shaping’ from three often- contradictory perspectives: social constructionism, affect, and Massumi’s notion of topological transformation. From this analytical foundation a critical review of the historical intersections of heritage and photography is undertaken. Based on previous scholarship in the field and a critique of select publications, exhibitions and archival productions, this general background research is navigated via six core themes: trace, memory, universality, series, cliché and authenticity. Drawing together heritage and photography in thought provoking ways, these themes also resonate across the subsequent case studies, where the work of John Thomson - who documented both Angkor and Famagusta in the nineteenth century - acts as a point of departure. Following a broadly chronological approach, I go on to discuss the role of photography in colonial and postcolonial heritage constructions, disparate articulations of memory that emerge in the deployment of photography at both locations, and, finally, the affective experience of photography at the sites today. Crucially, throughout this multi-sited archival and ethnographic research photography is understood not simply as a representational form, but as an embodied practice (act), material presence (object), and discursive apparatus (medium). This conceptual and methodological approach allows for a more nuanced understanding of the interconnections between heritage and photography to emerge, taking us beyond issues of representation and towards a recognition of the central role photography has in (re)configuring the values, practices, affective qualities and ethics of heritage writ large. 3 Contents Abstract 3 Contents 4 List of Illustrations 6 Acknowledgments 13 Introduction 1.1. Preamble 14 1.2. Aims, Definitions, Questions 15 1.3. Constructs, Affects, Topologies 18 1.4. An Introduction to Current Research 24 1.5. Structure of Thesis 27 Methodology / Methods 2.1. Introduction: Ethics and Practicalities 31 2.2. The Comparative Case Study Approach 34 2.3. Angkor and Famagusta 35 2.4. Locating the Photography Complex 44 2.5. Summary 47 Heritage And Photography: Critical Constellations 3.1. Introduction 49 3.2. Trace 54 3.3. Memory 60 3.4. Universality 67 3.5. Series 74 3.6. Cliché 82 4 3.7. Authenticity 88 3.8. Summary 96 Angkor And Famagusta: Initial Photographic Topologies 4.1. Introduction 99 4.2. Constructing Image-Objects 103 4.3. Distributed Pictures 121 4.4. Conclusion 134 Colonial to Post-colonial Heritage Constructions 5.1. Introduction: Ruination and Pastness 137 5.2. Re-mapping the Thomson ‘Archive’ 141 5.3. Angkor as Colonial Debris 152 5.4. Shifting Perceptions of British Famagusta 164 5.5. Conclusion 174 Remembering and Remaking Angkor and Famagusta 6.1. Introduction 176 6.2. Topologies of Memory 178 6.3. New Imaginaries of ‘Heritage’ Photography 190 6.4. Conclusion 205 Photography and Tourism: Corporeal Clichés / Selective Encounters 7.1. Introduction: Affective Reverberations 207 7.2. Photographic ‘Hot-Spots’ 209 7.4. Photography and the Pursuit of ‘Better Memories’ 224 7.5. Conclusion: Fluid Photo-Lives 239 Conclusion 8.1. Ruinous Photographies 241 8.2. Heritage & Photography / Photography & Heritage 243 8.3. On the Future ‘Shape’ of Heritage 248 Appendices 250 Bibliography 252 5 List of Illustrations Fig 2.1. Map of Cambodia showing main site of Angkor in relation to capital Phnom Penh ................................................................................................................................. 36 Figs 2.2 - 2.5. The temples of Angkor today. Clockwise from top left: Angkor Wat, Preah Pithu (Angkor Thom), The Bayon, Beng Mealea. All photographs author’s own ................................................................................................................................... 37 Fig 2.6. Map of Cyprus showing Famagusta in relation to Nicosia and UN buffer zone .................................................................................................................................. 39 Figs 2.7 - 2.9. Famagusta today. Top: View across town from Ravelin Gate (Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque in centre). Bottom, L-R: ruins of Venetian Palace inside the historic walled city; abandoned hotels on seafront at Varosha. All photographs author’s own ............................................................................................ 40 Fig 3.1. Jacques Louis Daguerre, 1837. Still Life (Interior of a Cabinet of Curiosities). © Société Française de Photographie .............................................................................. 53 Fig 3.2. Auguste Salzmann, 1854. The Road to Bethlehem. © National Gallery of Canada .......................................................................................................................................... 54 Fig 3.3. Zarina Bhimji, 1998-2003. Memories were Trapped Inside the Asphalt, from the series Love. © Zarina Bhimji ......................................................................................... 58 Fig 3.4. Michael Wesely, 2001-03. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © Michael Wesely .............................................................................................................................. 59 Fig 3.5. Jacques Louis Daguerre, 1839. Boulevard du Temple. ............................................ 60 Fig 3.6. Walker Evans, 1935. The Breakfast Room, Belle Vue Grove Plantation, White Chapel, Louisiana. © University Michigan Museum of Art ....................................... 63 Fig 3.7. Screen shot of Retronaut website showing Thomson image ........................... 66 Fig 3.8. Unknown Photographer, 1840-1841. Pokrovsky Cathedral (also known as St. Basil’s Cathedral), Moscow. Engraving from daguerreotype. From N. P. Lerebours’ Excursions Daguerriennes .............................................................................. 70 Fig 3.9. Unknown Photographer, 1913. Priest in Jain temple of Hathi Singh Ahmedabad, India. © Musée Albert-Kahn ........................................................................................ 71 6 Fig 3.10. Ezra Stoller, 1955. Installation view of The Family of Man exhibition ............ 73 Fig 3.11. Gustave Le Gray, 1851. Cloister of the Abbey Church of Saint Pierre. © Photo RMN (Musée d'Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski ......................................................... 76 Fig 3.12. Bernd and Hiller Becher, 1983. Cooling Towers, Ruhr District. © The Bechers .......................................................................................................................................... 78 Fig 3.13. Paul Virilio, 1958-65. Observation Post on a Channel Island (detail). © Paul Virilio ............................................................................................................................... 81 Fig 3.14. Marc Wilson, 2011. Studland Bay I, Dorset, England. © Marc Wilson .............. 81 Figs 3.15 - 3.18. Martin Parr, 1987-94. Photographs from the Small World project. ... 85 Fig 3.19. National Trust campaign created by Click Design Consultants ..................... 86 Figs 3.20 - 3.21. Christine Vionnet, 2006-13. Parthenon and Taj Mahal from series Photo Opportunities. © Christine Vionnet ............................................................................... 88 Fig 3.22. Wilfred Thesiger, 1948. Salim bin Ghabaisha with Warad, a saluki. © Pitt Rivers Museum ............................................................................................................... 92 Fig 3.23. Tim Parchikov, 2007. From the series Venice Suspense. © T. Parchikov ....... 94 Fig 3.24. Robert Walker, 2010. Venetian Apron Suite #6, from the series Venetian Apron Suite. © R. Walker .......................................................................................................... 94 Fig 3.25. Pierre Gonnord, 2010. Charlotte, from the series Venetian Portraits. © P. Gonnord .......................................................................................................................... 94 Fig 3.26. Antonio Girbes, 2011. Main Square by Baldassare Longhena, from the series Delirious City. © A. Girbes ............................................................................................. 95 Fig 4.1. Chest used by John Thomson to deliver glass plate negatives to Wellcome Collection in 1921. © Wellcome Library .................................................................. 101 Fig 4.2. John Thomson, 1866. Nakhon Watt, West Entrance. Digital positive scan from glass plate negative. © Wellcome Library ...............................................................