Jimmy Nelson Responds
Editor’s Note: On January 2, I posted a critical review of Jimmy Nelson’s “Before They Pass Away.” When I put it up I contacted Jimmy Nelson through his website and offered him the opportunity to respond. He took me up on that offer. What follows is posted exactly as received.
I extend my appreciation to Mr. Nelson for taking the time to send these comments.
This page has moved to tmcl.ca. Here is a direct link.
Image on Paper 
Reblogged this on Tea and Trivia.
The fact that there’s any controversy whatsoever over this is completely absurd. McLaughlin and others of his ilk are preying off Nelson’s work. They’re contriving controversy. Without it, they would have no soapbox, no fodder, and no attention.
What Nelson has done is reveal an entire world to us. He has also made a priceless record for humankind. He captured and represented the best of the subjects’ cultures and it is positive, it is complimentary, it is educational, and it is beautiful. Now these indigenous people have hundreds of thousands of new advocates and appreciators of their cultures, their lands, their challenges and their existences thanks to Nelson.
Before They Pass Away is priceless and, like pioneering work of the past, will be regarded as one of the seminal works and contributions to world culture.
My advice to Nelson is to ignore the critics. Anyone who’s ever done anything of worth has been and will be criticized by the envious and lowly “unachievers”. Da Vinci and Teddy Roosevelt have great quotes on that very theme.
Jimmy, you have NO need to defend your work anymore. It speaks for itself and you, sir, are to be applauded.
Jared Zaugg
San Francisco / Salt Lake City
Re: Jared Zaugg – Thanks for your comments. It may be the case that some people are already familiar with this world. And it is not being “revealed” it is being cast. Some have already traveled to it, others (especially if they are Tibetian or Maori) live in it. Indeed, it is a beautiful record. But surely people have a right to comment on it – especially given the declarative statements that accompany the work. You must agree that commentary on projects is valid. Otherwise I would not see your post here.
It’s a difficult issue, this matter of culture, and I can see why it is so easy for the whole thing to become inflammatory. Perhaps we should stop to consider this fact, first, and ask ourselves whether the debate about “culture” can actually take place at all, before we have settled some other matters. Why is it inflammatory? Perhaps the truth is that NO ONE PERSON can fully, and accurately, define the meaning of “culture”. It has personal connotations. We are each and every one of us INDIVIDUAL, and therefore INTERPRET MEANING in individual ways. Besides, culture is LIVED, thus we each have our own LIVED EXPERIENCE of culture.
Thus it is, perhaps, that OTHER’S INTERPRETATIONS of the meaning of culture mean LITTLE TO US. They likely incense us, because they do not FIT with what WE have understood culture to mean. I ask… has ANYONE, EVER gone out and asked EACH INDIVIDUAL HUMAN what the word culture means to THEM? I doubt it! It would probably be physically impossible! But, without this collective perspective, we have no real sense of what culture is interpreted as, on a worldwide basis; nor, to be frank, on an individual basis. We have no way of accurately measuring the disparity between one person’s interpretation of culture, and another’s.
It may be that another reason why culture is so hard to define, is that it is fluid – rapidly changing, rapidly evolving. When Archaeologists study ancient culture, such as that of Egypt, or Rome, it may well be that they make innumerable errors in their interpretations; this may be perfectly natural, and the predictable result of discovering that even ancient culture evolved, and changed. Humans appear to cope best with a degree of predictability, and I suspect that, sometimes, this hampers their ability to accept things that change. Applied to culture, this means that humans necessarily question any change, and demand to know whether said change is a sign of the “original culture” having died out.
Far be it from me to know how to define culture; I can only hold to the belief that it means many things to many people. I would also add that interpretation of the word may also be influenced by an individual’s background, education/training and career/discipline. Thus, for example, the fashion journalist may well interpret culture in terms of dress sense and outward appearance (e.g. the back-combed hair, pale skin, black make-up, and “vampiric” appearance of “Goth culture”; or the ornate hairstyles, kimonos and face paint of Japanese Geishas). The archaeologist may be interested in culture from a different perspective altogether; looking at piecing together fragments of ancient culture. The sociologist may view culture in terms of how society is structured, in terms of class systems, or systems of power. The fervently religious will always include religion in their evaluation of culture; the political will look for the political… ergo, we ALL seek to explain things via media which WE UNDERSTAND… OUR OWN EXPERIENCES are of huge significance.
So, in sum, if Mr. Nelson (proponent of the visual arts) wishes to present culture via a series of pictures that feature traditional dress (for example), who are we to argue? As he says, it is HIS way of drawing attention to the subject. There MAY be other ways – but THIS is HIS. Each of us may have our preferred method, and each may be perfectly correct. THAT is the thing… culture could arguably be so vast, so all-encompassing in its remit, as to allow for ALL of our interpretations.
It is sad that the matter of “colonialism” had to be raised, at all. To photograph people in traditional dress is not, in itself, inherently “bad”. It does not immediately imply a patronizing, “noble savage” interpretation of a culture. The truth is that a dichotomy DOES EXIST… that the Western, capitalist world encroaches dangerously upon other cultures that it does not fully appreciate, or understand. It seeks to “Westernize” everything; a Mc.Donald’s here, a business suit there, skyscrapers, mobile telephones, cars, aeroplanes… “western” clothes, “western” food, “western” technology, “western” thinking. It “railroads” its way through other countries, and other cultures; rather than accepting them for what they are, it alters them to fit a more “western” model. We CANNOT argue that this DOES NOT happen. After all, we are witness to obesity in Japan; a country that has increasingly embraced “western” fast food. We are witness to the children of Hindus, Sikhs, Indians, Pakistanis… rejecting Saris, and Shalwar Kameez in favour of jeans, mini-skirts and trainers… becoming Punks… listening to rap, not ragas! We are witness to native American Indians on “Reservations”, and the forced adoption of Aboriginal children by “western” parents…
So, perhaps Mr. Nelson is correct to argue that we must recognise and acknowledge certain cultures “before they die”? Whatever angle we view it from; whether we are critical of the “noble savage” aesthetic, or otherwise; whether we see culture as dress, food, language, customs… WHATEVER… we MUST accept that PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT. And we must EMBRACE THAT DIFFERENCE – WHATEVER IT LOOKS LIKE.
Re: Elain Ellis – thanks for taking the time to provide such a considered response. There are a number of issues at play which makes this topic complex, but also very interesting. Yes cultures are changing. That is the essence of a culture – it is always in flux. As you correctly point out western culture has impacted other cultures, jeans replace saris (and today in tribal areas of India saris replace other modes of indigenous dress). I am not saying that these cultures are not radically impacted by globalization. What I do find surprising, however, is the stance stated in the book that some undefined “we” needs to manage the cultures of others in order to ensure their continuity: “We are invited to organize their continuity, to paint their souls for posterity, if we don’t, they will indeed disappear forever and an essential part of us will disappear with them.” I just find such rhetoric culturally naive (and not a little dangerous) in a book that is attempting to explore cultural identity. It is a very impressive project, and I have great admiration for it – which is why the marketing stance and text that accompany it disturbs me so much. I am happy to see, however, that on my last visit to the web site the text had been toned down somewhat.
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This was so interesting. Basically a debate on marketing over content. (You might feel I’m over simplifying it some but that is what really stuck out to me comparing your argument to Nelson’s rebuttal.)
I do agree to a point that culture is disappearing in the wake of a common, modern way of life. That doesn’t mean every single element of culture is gone so much as a sort of homogenization of individual culture into a world culture. We see this effect in the creation of the Euro. History is retained but culture is fading.
I find it fascinating that Nelson’s project is about the loss of visual culture. The minutiae of very specific, lesser known cultures that might very well disappear as the youth from these cultures find the global culture more practical.
The comparison to Scotland is too broad as it really isn’t a niche culture. It also had Great Britain maintaining the basics of their culture through there laws of what was and wasn’t allowed in Scotland. In the modern world now with these laws abolished they have retained much of their history and celebrate their culture in festivals and such.
The Navajo language is probably a better comparison to what Nelson means by cultural disappearance – at one point it did almost disappear until people started deliberately teaching it with the purpose of it being remembered.
Props to you sir, on highlighting an interesting project and posing your view and then turning around and being willing to highlight the author’s view of your review. I think when we keep our views respectful if still passionate it creates an environment to explore topics and ideas in a really fascinating way. Cheers!!
This book is part of the problem that tribal peoples face, it certainly isn’t part of any solution.
To learn more about why Jimmy Nelson’s project is dangerous and not true, see the review in Truthout by Stephen Corry, director of Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights.
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/23986-turning-a-blind-eye-to-pure-old-vibrations
A paragraph from my Pacific studies in a globalising world discussion on Pacific archiving; More broadly on the issue of contemporary foreign archiving of Pacific Islanders and taboos, I feel it relevant yet infuriating to mention what I consider as the neocolonial arrogance of a certain self proclaimed archivist entrepreneur known as Jimmy Nelson. His project offensively and inaccurately titled ‘before they pass way’ may look great on the surface reflecting stunning images of Melanesian s (and many other peoples and areas around the world) staged with traditional regalia in their autochthonous environments (before they pass away 2011-2014). This beautiful imagery is primarily due to ‘the Islanders own’ amazing cultural heritage, ornaments and setting which is not properly credited by Nelson who seems to think his million dollar equipment and photographic professionalism is the reason ‘his’ images are so stunning. Looking a little deeper to his documentary series on the project one finds he was quite happy to ignore the peoples cultural and spiritual taboos in pursuit of the forged images he desired. In Vanuatu people were coerced (whether bribed with sik blong mani-money sickness) to climb one the worlds most active and dangerous volcanoes against the spiritual/cultural protocols of the whole region (with the potential to cause direct danger, conflict, instability and spiritual harm in the community). As frighted subjects wince from the volcanic rumbles and spewing lava, Nelson insists on the shot while considering whether he has crossed the ‘danger’ boundary (Nelson 2013). In another insistence he coerces peoples to climb a sacred rocky outcrop which is a forbidden taboo. When nobody arrives for the organised shot a young boy explains they only agreed out of politeness. Insistent on the shot he manages to bribe (presumably with money) a couple of locals to break the taboo and climb the rock which was physically and spiritually dangerous. Nelson ought to be ashamed although it is obvious he has no scruples.
I do wonder…what do Pacific Islanders feel about the effect of this kind of archiving?
References
Before They Pass Away, 2011-2014, Photographic project by Jimmy Nelson ‘Before They Pass Away’ viewed 17th of March 2014 http://www.beforethey.com/
Nelson , J 2013, ‘Before They Pass Away by Jimmy Nelson-Vanuatu Update V2’, Published on You Tube 14th of November 2013, viewed 17th of March 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYcjGdFiJi4
A paragraph from my Pacific studies in a globalising world discussion at ANU earlier in the year on Pacific archiving; More broadly on the issue of contemporary foreign archiving of Pacific Islanders and taboos, I feel it relevant yet infuriating to mention what I consider as the neocolonial arrogance of a certain self proclaimed archivist entrepreneur known as Jimmy Nelson. His project offensively and inaccurately titled ‘before they pass way’ may look great on the surface reflecting stunning images of Melanesian s (and many other peoples and areas around the world) staged with traditional regalia in their autochthonous environments (before they pass away 2011-2014). This beautiful imagery is primarily due to ‘the Islanders own’ amazing cultural heritage, ornaments and setting which is not properly credited by Nelson who seems to think his million dollar equipment and photographic professionalism is the reason ‘his’ images are so stunning. Looking a little deeper to his documentary series on the project one finds he was quite happy to ignore the peoples cultural and spiritual taboos in pursuit of the forged images he desired. In Vanuatu people were coerced (whether bribed with sik blong mani-money sickness) to climb one the worlds most active and dangerous volcanoes against the spiritual/cultural protocols of the whole region (with the potential to cause direct danger, conflict, instability and spiritual harm in the community). As frighted subjects wince from the volcanic rumbles and spewing lava, Nelson insists on the shot while considering whether he has crossed the ‘danger’ boundary (Nelson 2013). In another insistence he coerces peoples to climb a sacred rocky outcrop which is a forbidden taboo. When nobody arrives for the organised shot a young boy explains they only agreed out of politeness. Insistent on the shot he manages to bribe (presumably with money) a couple of locals to break the taboo and climb the rock which was physically and spiritually dangerous. Nelson ought to be ashamed although it is obvious he has no scruples.
I do wonder…what do Pacific Islanders feel about the effect of this kind of archiving?
Before They Pass Away, 2011-2014, Photographic project by Jimmy Nelson ‘Before They Pass Away’ viewed 17th of March 2014 http://www.beforethey.com/
Nelson , J 2013, ‘Before They Pass Away by Jimmy Nelson-Vanuatu Update V2’, Published on You Tube 14th of November 2013, viewed 17th of March 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYcjGdFiJi4
new review: https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/julia-lagoutte/tribal-peoples-aren%27t-passing-away-they-are-fighting-against-brutal-oppres
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