The Curse of the Photograph: Atjeh, 1901

Abstract

James Siegel examines why photography was not adopted by the Atjehnese to memorialize local scenes and people in the same way it was by the Dutch and the Javanese. He analyzes the photographs of C. Niewenhuis, who accompanied the Dutch forces during a violent campaign to pacify the Atjehnese resistance, and concludes that the Atjehnese had no need of such images because their engagement in a holy war or jihad rendered memorialization meaningless.