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Photo-Attractions : An Indian Dancer, an American Photographer, and a German Camera

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Title: Photo-Attractions : An Indian Dancer, an American Photographer, and a German Camera
Description: In Spring 1938, an Indian dancer named Ram Gopal and an American writer-photographer named Carl Van Vechten came together for a photoshoot in New York City. Ram Gopal was a pioneer of classical Indian dance and Van Vechten was reputed as a prominent white patron of the African-American movement called the Harlem Renaissance. Photo-Attractions describes the interpersonal desires and expectations of the two men that took shape when the dancer took pose in exotic costumes in front of Van Vechten's Leica camera. The spectacular images provide a rare and compelling record of an underrepresented history of transcultural exchanges during the interwar years of early-20th century, made briefly visible through photography. Art historian Ajay Sinha uses these hitherto unpublished photographs and archival research to raise provocative and important questions about photographic technology, colonial histories, race, sexuality and transcultural desires. Challenging the assumption that Gopal was merely objectified by Van Vechten's Orientalist gaze, he explores the ways in which the Indian dancer co-authored the photos. In Sinha's reading, Van Vechten's New York studio becomes a promiscuous contact zone between world cultures, where a “photo-erotic” triangle is formed between the American photographer, Indian dancer, and German camera. A groundbreaking study of global modernity, Photo-Attractions brings scholarship on American photography, literature, race and sexual economies into conversation with work on South Asian visual culture, dance, and gender. In these remarkable historical documents, it locates the pleasure taken in cultural difference that still resonates today.
Authors: Ajay Sinha
Resource Type: eBook.
Subjects: Photographers--United States, Portrait photography, Dancers--India--Portraits, Harlem Renaissance
Categories: PHOTOGRAPHY / General, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Artists, Architects, Photographers, LITERARY CRITICISM / LGBTQ+, PHOTOGRAPHY / Individual Photographers / Monographs, SOCIAL SCIENCE / LGBTQ+ Studies / Gay Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / American / Asian American & Pacific Islander Studies, PERFORMING ARTS / Dance / History & Criticism, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 20th Century, SOCIAL SCIENCE / LGBTQ+ Studies / Bisexual Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / Asian Studies
Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
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  – Type: ebook-epub
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  Availability: 0
Header DbId: nlebk
DbLabel: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
An: 3164894
RelevancyScore: 1116
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: eBook
PubTypeId: ebook
PreciseRelevancyScore: 1116.28857421875
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  Data: Photo-Attractions : An Indian Dancer, an American Photographer, and a German Camera
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  Label: Description
  Group: Ab
  Data: In Spring 1938, an Indian dancer named Ram Gopal and an American writer-photographer named Carl Van Vechten came together for a photoshoot in New York City. Ram Gopal was a pioneer of classical Indian dance and Van Vechten was reputed as a prominent white patron of the African-American movement called the Harlem Renaissance. Photo-Attractions describes the interpersonal desires and expectations of the two men that took shape when the dancer took pose in exotic costumes in front of Van Vechten's Leica camera. The spectacular images provide a rare and compelling record of an underrepresented history of transcultural exchanges during the interwar years of early-20th century, made briefly visible through photography. Art historian Ajay Sinha uses these hitherto unpublished photographs and archival research to raise provocative and important questions about photographic technology, colonial histories, race, sexuality and transcultural desires. Challenging the assumption that Gopal was merely objectified by Van Vechten's Orientalist gaze, he explores the ways in which the Indian dancer co-authored the photos. In Sinha's reading, Van Vechten's New York studio becomes a promiscuous contact zone between world cultures, where a “photo-erotic” triangle is formed between the American photographer, Indian dancer, and German camera. A groundbreaking study of global modernity, Photo-Attractions brings scholarship on American photography, literature, race and sexual economies into conversation with work on South Asian visual culture, dance, and gender. In these remarkable historical documents, it locates the pleasure taken in cultural difference that still resonates today.
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Classifications:
      – Code: 792.8028092
        Scheme: ddc
        Type: prePub
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Photographers--United States
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Portrait photography
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Dancers--India--Portraits
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Harlem Renaissance
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Photo-Attractions : An Indian Dancer, an American Photographer, and a German Camera
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Ajay Sinha
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Ajay Sinha
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2023
            – D: 13
              M: 12
              Type: profile
              Y: 2022
          Identifiers:
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9781978830486
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9781978830493
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9781978830523
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9781978830509
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Photo-Attractions : An Indian Dancer, an American Photographer, and a German Camera
              Type: main
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