Image and Identity

Visual culture, including art, film, and photography, has a profound influence on personal and national identities. Especially photography, because of its ubiquity in contemporary communication, creates a framework of ideas that shapes our identity.

In American society, for instance, film and photography have played a significant role since the early 20th century. Hollywood movies reflected the ideal American lifestyle and culture. When Robert Frank released his pivotal book The Americans, many critics were outraged by his sceptical view of their country. They perceived Frank’s pessimistic portrayal of America as an attack on their cherished identity of optimism and progress.

In Artdoc issue #4 2022, we interviewed photographers who, in an investigative way, worked around the concept of identity. American photographer Justin Kimball shows in his book Who By Fire the American life of distress and hope. His photographs not only depict the outer world but also reveal the exploration of his inner self and his place in the world. French photographer Marion Gronier made portraits for her book We were never meant to survive, about three major constitutional ethnic groups in America that have formed its anthropological identity. British photographer Alys Tomlinson showed local pre-christian rituals on Italian islands in her book Gli Isolani. Her photographs disclose many layers of Europe’s obscured and forgotten pagan identity. American-british photographer Aaron Schuman travelled to Italy and created his own version of his beloved Mediterranean country in his book Sonata. Finally, French photographer Maxime Taillez shows in his project Border that Europe has lost the traditional concept of national borders and identities.