The Ethnographic Series 2004

With *The Ethnographic Series*, Pushpamala N stages herself in a set of photographic portraits that both mimic and critique colonial ethnographic studies. The sepia tones and the format of the film strip evoke the visual language historically used to document and classify non-Western people. Pushpamala, an Indian artist, intentionally uses her own body to question the authority and objectivity of such representations. By performing different roles within the same series, she challenges the fixed identities often imposed by ethnographic photography. The saree, a traditional garment, is not simply a marker of Indian identity but a complex signifier of gender, class, and regional belonging. What does it mean when the artist says "I am the model, photographer, and ethnographer all at once?” Through this multifaceted approach, Pushpamala disrupts traditional power dynamics, reclaiming agency and offering a deeply personal commentary on the politics of representation.