From The Ethnographic Series: Native Women of South India: Manners & Customs 2004

Pushpamala N’s photographic series employs the tools and techniques of early documentary photography. This image shows the artist and her crew engaged in a visual game of dress-up, using a vintage aesthetic to explore representations of South Indian women. It’s not just a question of posing; the whole setup and the labor involved are laid bare. The backdrop, lighting, camera on a tripod, and the crew that manipulate them - these become part of the final image. Here, the artist is engaged in a performance of labor. By exposing all of the elements that go into the making of the image, the artist is inviting us to consider the amount of work, and the number of people involved in the making of a photograph, not only the sitter. Pushpamala asks us to consider how the layers of labor, skill, and context shape our understanding of an image. It is not enough to simply look at the photograph, but to think about the social dynamics that enable it.