Another [Less Exoticized] Africa

The above picture is one that majorly arouses suspicion, with the majority of it being negative in nature. My point is that even the simplest things of everyday life that we could somehow identify with, and even things we cannot, produce some of the more negative connotations in the minds of unwary onlookers who have been brainwashed to believe that Africa is this one place where normal things cannot take place.

In the photo referenced above, how many of us could say that the first thing to catch our attention was not the fact that there was an African woman holding a baby that appears to be white. This primary aspect of the picture draws a significant amount of attention from other things that could be taking place at the time the photo was taken. For example, only after a second look did I take the time out to admire the elaborate and royal designs on the dress of the woman. I also failed to pay any attention to the motorcycles in the background. Now, I could be finding out that I am a hopeless racist who notices nothing but color, or there are some people reading this who can relate.
Upon first glance, the common onlooker who has been fed by American media would maybe firstly think, “Why is she holding that baby that is obviously not hers” or “I bet she’s the nurse maid for some white woman”. But please take this time to second guess yourself.
Why is it automatically more plausible for this woman to be a nursemaid than for her to be holding a close friend’s child, or to have even adopted this child herself?
We, Americans primarily, have this tendency to view color as the primary defining facet of every person that we meet. As we encounter different people, the first thing we notice of course is ethnicity and/or race. This is the foundation for who that person is to us a lot of the time, and plays an important role in the perspective we have of that person. Why do you think we ask a person their race when we cannot readily identify it ourselves? We take into consideration what experience perceptions we have had pertaining to others of their race or ethnicity, and attribute it to that person. Automatically, by color contrast with the baby, we have already presupposed that there could be no real positive reason that this woman could be holding this child.

Based on difference instead of similarity, we find ways to "other" people, especially those in Africa who we have not given the proper chance to make an impression on us for themselves.

I do however, think that the photographer Robert Lyons does an excellent job of taking pictures that would not interest the common American looking for exoticism, and it calls for you to ask yourself what is the real reason you do or do not enjoy or appreciate the photos in the book. If you are looking for the wonder displayed in media, you may be disappointed.