The always throrough Germans made this group of photos in 1898 showing each subject
from three angles. (Reminds me of the U.S. Navy body typing studies we saw here recently.)
The top row depicts Asians while the bottom group is African. Despite being from the same
continent, the two men in each set appear notably different from one another to me.
Africa, in fact, is the most racially diverse continent on the planet, which is why a goodly number of people in Europe find the American habit of conflating colour with race rather odd. When you know an area of Europe, for example, you can tell the difference between a Norwegian and a Swede, however close in fact they are. It is so in Africa, as well.
ReplyDeletePlus there are plenty of dark skinned peoples who aren't African. I've seen the American attitude toward racial differences change so much in my lifetime that, while it's still problematic in a lot of ways, it can't be typified.
DeleteThe Germans had a colony in Africa which was then called German East Africa; the British took it over and called it Tanganyika, now today's Tanzania. Maybe these pix were taken as part of the colonial governance? Dee Exx
ReplyDeleteMakes sense. I think they also had a "concession" in China.
DeleteAfter 1st glance, I was going to ask which college they attended!
ReplyDeleteLOL, there is a similarity of format.
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