If I were to ask you in which country this photograph was taken, or even to name the continent, I don't think you would be able to do so without taking a lucky guess, a 1-in-6 chance like rolling a die, because this could be of a village in Nicaragua, a hillside town in China, a painter's home in rural Pennsylvania, a cabana on an Australian Beach, or a corner shop in the English countryside, but I doubt that the answer elicited would that of a "Commercial Artist's Shack" in Kumasi, Ghana, which is indeed what the image depicts. Robert Lyons' photograph, from his book
Another Africa, neither confronts nor confirms any of the widely held opinions about Africa because it is simply ridiculous that such a picture, if any, could make a statement about an entire continent, and that is what is so refreshingly fantastic about this image. Yes, the "shack" as Lyons titles it, leads one to assume that this artist is poor, but that is a statement about artists not Africa. Throughout history and the world today, artists have lived a simplistic way of life and continue to do so. In another culturally and ethnically diverse place, New Orleans, I have seen an artist, a rapper, record in a studio (insert: empty, unfurnished house in the 9th ward) for days on end in the insatiable quest for artistic recognition and maybe even some money for dinner. Not so different, I would imagine, from the artist here who paints portraits and logos for commercial consumption, using the same essential marketing strategies that the rapper does. To market his talent, this artist has chosen to paint a quite realistic portrait of classic icon recognized all over the world, James Bond, and by displaying it on his storefront, has chosen to allow passersby to consume his art for free. The rapper aforementioned, named Bruce Dillon, recently covered "What's My Name" by Rihanna, and released it on Youtube; he used an icon that everyone knows, added his own talent to it, then gave it to the public for free so that they might consider purchasing some of his art at a later date, sound familiar? To establish his ethos, this painter has chosen to inscribe two verses from the King James version of the Bible, so that his potential patrons will know that he is a man of God, similar to how the rapper says he is a man of God on his Facebook page. Across varying times, nations and people, many things are done differently, but what Robert Lyons has done with this image is show that this is not "Another Africa", it's just another artist.
I agree with your analysis. So many of the images we have seen before this week have focused on Africa and have tried to portray the continent in a certain way ("wise", disease-stricken, vast, etc.) Even when the subject of other photos we've looked at has been an artist (for example Jay-Z), the photographer always includes a stereotypical African backdrop. Seldom have we seen photographs that have been taken in Africa which do not draw attention to the location.
ReplyDeleteIt is refreshing to look at this photo and and see that it is about the artist's work--not the artist's work IN Africa.
This is a really good analysis of the photo. I think it is really great that you chose this photo because the artist really isn't trying to depict anything that we would label as "African." This is just a piece of art that happens to be in Ghana. I think we can all appreciate this image just because its an image instead of trying to look for ways to connect it specifically to Africa.
ReplyDeleteI love that you chose a photo that has no human figures and that, in a way, is so abstract. Your reading of it, and your connections to local cultural figures we recognize, does a real service in not heirarchizing the two cultures.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting piece of evidence is that the shack is covered in english writing, which suggests that this photo comes from an english-speaking country, rather than Ghana. I support your argument.
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