Abstract
Since its beginnings, photography has been presented as an objective recording tool; however, its history reveals that it has also been an instrument of power. (Sontag, 2003, p. 45) warned that photographing implies appropriating the other, an act that places the viewer in a position of dominance over the subject represented. In this sense, the lens not only captures an image: it constructs a gaze (Berger, 2008, p. 22) complements this idea by stating that the camera translates reality into a field of visual power where the observer exercises authority over the observed. When the photographed subject belongs to an indigenous community, this relationship becomes more complex, as the image acquires a spiritual meaning: it is not just a trace of light, but an extension of the being.
Document Type
Paper
Student Type
Undergraduate
Department, Program, or Center
Photographic Arts and Sciences, School of
College
College of Art and Design
Campus
RIT – Main Campus
Publication Date
2025
Recommended Citation
Arciniegas Perez, Sebastian, "“We are not museum animals or photography trophies.” The colonizing gaze of the lens: ethics in the photographic representation of indigenous communities in Ecuador" (2025). Accessed from
https://repository.rit.edu/student/28
Comments
2025 recipient of the Henry and Mary Kearse Writing Award