The Hima layas are an inspirati on for photographers. In

INTRODUCTION

BY MARIE LECOMTE-TlLOUINE

The Hima layas are an inspirati on for photographers. In

a sense. they made this

pan

of the world their own, for their means of representation is not counterbalanced by

o ther ,m istic approaches, local or not. Photography is so close ly linked to the region we study, that the s ight of mou", ,,ins undo ubtedl y recalls fur must uf us a full double page colour photograph on glossy paper. in the

same manner as a Japanese landscape evokes an

"cswmpc". However. our goal here was not 10 study

Wcslcmcr,~·; mental representations of a place through

pholugmp h y, bul

l<>

illustrate the role pl ayed by photo- graph' for scho lars. evcn if it can a lso contribute to the

former.

Wc planned this special issue to answer a few speci-

fic qucSlions rc lati ve to th c pl acc of photog raphy in the

exercise of research within the specific conlext or the

1·lil11alaV~b. Wc tried 10 find answers lO three major

quc' l io~,

:

I) Wh al arc thc uses of pho tograph y in the

different Geld:.. of research represented in our area?

2) Ilow do researchers capture their object of study?

3) And what do they try to s ho w when publishing pho-

tos'! hum the material we received. it appears lhat the pri ll1ar~ role auached La photography is historical. Pho- tography allow~ comparison. especially when the same object i~ laken at different Limes and diachronic sets of picture ... appear as a favoured tool for those working al

the ,"ale of landsc ape (M. Fort , R. K os tka

&

V. Kauf-

mann and J. Smadja in this volume). Such an exercise may reveal surprises: if the rapid urbanisation of the

Ka;h l11andu Va lley is notice able with out photographi c

comparison. the real extent of the phenomenon is not pcrceivilblc without it. In the same way. the rapidity of gcomorphologicaJ changes, erosion as well as recoloni- zalion by flonl and people. can only be shown with

phologra ph s. On th e othe r hand . the pe re nnia lit y of

slope-fields cuhiv3tion in some areas of Nepal. presen- tcd until now as a period of Iransition in the terracing

prol'cs~. is evidenced by the set of pictures compared

by J. Smadj •.

Photography also serves as testimo ny. An example of this is the picture of the Buddha of Bungamera Tol before its new environme nt was built (G. Bcguin ). The ju xtap osition of photog raphs o f Ne palese patrimonial buildings in differe nt states of conservatio n is probably the bes t me ans to rai se an urgent call in support of

thcm. now that they have lost their traditional patrons

(V. Bouillier). In the same way, a photograph showing

three gencrations togcther acquires its own strength,

inviting comparison, such as the Gaine famil y presen - ted by M. Helffer. Pho tograph s of lost tec hniques like urine divinati o n (e. JeslfF. Meyer) and th e water-clock (e. Jes lfO. Aubriot) are extrem e ly prec ious fur uur und e rstandin g of the histo rica l bac kground which explai ns the prese nt situatio n. And the re is no need to emphasize th e interest of capturing political evenlS such

EBHR 15-16, 1998-1999

as the repression of the Khampa rebellion by th e Ne pa- lese Arm y (A. Man zardo ). Photos of today's tech-

niques. rituals, monuments and landscapes have a usc-

ful , potenti ally hi storical dimension besides th ei r pre- sent role of information (G. Krauskopff, G. Torn n, K.

Buffe trille). Photographs may also be used to underline symbols, suc h as th e fri endship bridge between epal and Ch ina

(L.

Bo ulno is), the Mao fresco of Patan (Ph.

Ra mirez), or the grave of the founder of a new re ligion

(H.

Kre utzmann). Lastly, it can be used

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pallia te the

limitation of scientific writings 10 express :l feeling and

show th e pe opl e who m ade th e sta pos 'ibl c ( M, Leco mte-Ti louine).

Th ough dea lt with o nly brie n y in L hi s volum e, the inte rn a.l use a nd represe nta tio n of photography i of part icul ar interest.

It

is ex amined in de pth by P. Onta within the context of the Kathm andu Valley who shows how a photograph is careFully composed and inte nded to di spl ay an idea l representa ti on o f the self. In thi s

sensc, it reveals the society's ideology. 11 is lhus that

the Ranas, who had a specia l rule o f succession a mong

brothers and not from father to son. appear as a very extended family in (heir pictures along whh their ser- vants. Anolher expression of power is shown in 1950s

pho tographs where Newars liked to be "i mmortalised"

sitting on a bulldozer or in front of a car ... In the same manner the holistic nature of Darling society was best

revealed to the ethn ographer as pho tographe r when cal- led in by a Chetri family to shoot their portrait. Indeed

all the Kami and Sannyasi neighbours joined them for the picture without asking their consent and the initial family portrait ended up as the picture of a compact crowd of

60

persons ...

The

tragic dc<uh

or

i1 phologra- phcr and the fale of his production illustrates in a very striking way the negative and magic connotations of

photograph y for the Ti beta n no mads of the I 940s (Li o- tard-GuibaullDoll fus). In a society where people have

few images of themselves. because the mirrors are small. dirty, often broken and even sometimes nonexis- lent in the house, portraits endow a crucial dimension.

In the hill s of Nepa l, th e vera ndas arc real portrait gal - leries, wh ere the soldi ers with their unifornl s and deco-

rations stand with, womcn in saris. scated on Weslern-

sty led c ha irs, their faces turned to th e ground, a dis- gui sed c hild on the lap. Inside the frame of these studio

photos, new ones are inserted, which sometimes cover

compl e te ly th e poor gra nd -pa rents. They show Lhe

yuung unes ill Hiru..li movie star postures, wearing sun- glasses, caps and scarves, standing among nowers.

Despite the changes of the

stab~ng,

the young ones like

the ir g ra nd-pare nts never smile or show their tecth ,

even if it is quitc di mc ult for most o f the m to sto p

th emselves from doi ng so. Thi s is the onl y strict rule

when shot, and it may be no t only acsthetic. Indeed, the

ide nt ifica tion of the person with his photographic por-

trail is deep and all ows for example the village Brah-

mins to place the frontal

[ikii

mark on the King and

Queen of Ne pal t hro ugh th eir photograph or a Kami

shaman to sacrifice a chicken to his Master via the

same vector.

Identification may

be even deeper, as when the Ladakhi s destroy the photographs of a child after his or

her

death or when one is told in Nepal that whe

n

someone dies, hi s eyeli

ds

close in

h

is photo- graphs. But the question is

more complex

than these exa

mples show

because

it

seems that a photograph can-

not

for instance be employed as a substitute fo

r the per-

son in the con tex t o

f witchcraft

in

the samc way

as hair or nails. BUI on the other

hand,

the Ladakhi medium

(/ha-lIIo) may keep the picLUre of someone 1

0 protect

him

in

h

is absence.

The spectrum through which photOgraphy may be ana

lyse

d

is

thus extremel y wide and we hope that thi s issue will encourage new renections in all the direc- tio

ns outlined here.

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