Photo Wallachs
David MacDougall’s “Photo Wallachs” movie starts with the scene in the photo studio when three schoolchildren posing to the photo camera by the direction of the photographer. As a movie viewers, we see the final result of this photo, a black medium shot portrait. MacDougall does not hide his existence to the public he film, people he film reacting on camera and trying to interact with it. However, the director still remains more observer than a participant. The narration of the movie builds from various stories representing the hierarchy in society through the photography importance and role it plays. Relation of Indians towards photography shows us the difference in social classes, the hierarchy between photographer and client, sometimes client photographer in the case if they are not satisfied by the photo they cannot pay. The movie starts with a variety of photos and photo studios in India. Even if it was filmed in 1991 when most of the people had their own small snapshot camera people here still use black and white studio family portraits, color painted photos, and staged photos. Depending on the social status people have access to different photographers, starting from cheap street photo studios with a textile background in the back to the in-house photo sessions. In the public film-watching scene when we able to see the reaction of the Indian crowd on one of the Bollywood movies they are empathetic to what is going on screen, through the close-up of facial expressions we see Indian people's correlation to fiction movies.
Other scenes from the hill taken costume reenactment photography to open not only the power relationship between the photographer and client, while the first tries to direct the client to pose and act. This also reveals the real personalities of photographed clients, they want to be on a photo of someone they can not be in real life. For example H. S. Chadha, the photographer "all the emotions flow out in photography," and he has described how he discovered by taking photographs that a Chief Minister and an astrologer (who looked like a holy man) were both in fact thieves.[1]
Some of the photo studios prefer to stay old-fashioned using only black and white photos or hand-colored ones. For them is the only real one, the photo as an artwork! Depiction of a family portrait in one of these studios also shows the correlation of married couples. In most of the photo, husband poses more and prefer to look good, however on the most women faces we see tiredness and apathy. These photos can show the real correlation in the family when a woman not satisfied with her life,or maybe it is just my reinterpretation.
Through his movie, MacDougall’s also introduces us to photography's role in Indian society as a marriage tool. He portrays the young photographer, who explains the importance of a good photo, which young people exchange to find a wife or husband. We see how he tries to make his client look “saleable” by putting them in front of TV which is a sign of wealth so the future husband would be more interested in the bride. Clients believe in him, and follow all instructions, apart from the power relations it also a sign that being a photographer can be a respectful profession.
On some point director also point on change of technologies, like photo replaced by video and it becomes more fashionable especially in middle-class society.
[1] MacDougall, David. "Photo hierarchicus: Signs and mirrors in Indian photography." Visual Anthropology 5, no. 2 (1992) p147
