Huis en mensen uit Samoa op de World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 1893

This photograph, taken by Charles Dudley Arnold in 1893, captures the Samoa village exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The composition is structured around contrasting textures and forms. A traditional Samoan house with its conical thatched roof dominates the right side, its organic texture a stark contrast to the sharp, geometric lines of the European-style building visible behind it. The figures in front of the Samoan house create a human-scale element, and the light and shadow play across the scene. This photographic juxtaposition is a visual commentary on the exhibition's themes of civilization and progress. The formal contrast implies a hierarchy, inviting viewers to consider the relationship between the modern and the so-called primitive. The photograph is more than a document, it functions as a semiotic space where cultural meanings are constructed through visual language, reflecting late 19th-century perceptions of cultural difference.