Book Reviews
Reading National Geographic, Catherine A. Lutz and Jane L. Collins, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1993
Abstract
As I write this, I have just received an advertisement from the National Geographic Society, saying that as a member, I have the opportunity to be one of the fIrst to purchase a volume on the greatest photographs ever published in the National Geographic. Like many others, especially anthropologists (I suspect), I grew up reading National Geographic, had access to,National Geographic publications, and probably got my fIrst images of different cultures and peoples from the magazine. How accurate a picture do we get? What does it attempt to portray and why?
The burgeoning field of visual anthropology examines images and films and attempts to under stand them within their social context. How do photographs communicate or evoke ideas? What is the social framework in which they are produced-"the historical and cultural context that gives the photograph and its elements their meaning and significance"? What is the role of such images in our society, and do they play a major role in enculturation?
How to Cite:
Willoughby, P., 1994. Reading National Geographic, Catherine A. Lutz and Jane L. Collins, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1993. Bulletin of the History of Archaeology, 4(2), pp.20–21. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/bha.04204
Published on
01 Nov 1994.
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