The Signs Of The Age Of Modernity - 1734 Words

Invented in the first half of the nineteenth century, photography became one of the signs of the age of modernity. Following the official announcement of the invention in 1839, photographers were dispatched to various parts of the world to document its marvels. The first places to be photographed in the Middle East were Palestine and Egypt shortly after the invention was announced. The rest of the Ottoman lands, Persia, and the Indian Subcontinent were also among the regions that were photographed soon after. European political, religious and colonial interests were initially the main reason behind the choice of what places were photographed first. Biblical history was the main motive behind photographing in Palestine, and ancient Egyptian history and the rise in the studies of archaeology were the motives for photographing the Pyramids. However, the British photographers primarily in connection with the empire’s colonial interests in that region heavily photographed India. The Arabian Peninsula, at the time, held little interest in the wider imagination of the Europeans, a fact that resulted in a delay in its visual representation. Still, the rising interest in the Islamic culture and the lifestyle of the Bedouins would eventually lead photographers in that region. At least one native, one Egyptian and a few European photographers photographed Mecca and Medina in the middle of the nineteenth century. In this context, concern with photographing Oman and the Gulf region wereShow MoreRelatedEvaluate Postmodernist Explanations of the Role and Functions of Religion in Contemporary Society.1606 Words   |  7 PagesZygmunt Bauman said post-modernity is the irretrievable loss of trust in the project of modernity and its ability to manage, enhance and fulfil human potential. Symbols, signs and meanings are also another theory to post-modernism. Mass media like television and the internet have exposed us all to different cultures and ideas from across the globe, also known as globalisation. The ‘meanings’ of things have now become more individualised, we consume the products, symbols and signs of a globalised economyRead MoreWho Is A True Believer?896 Words   |  4 PagesLemert explains modernity through several perspectives of classical or established sociologist. Sigmund Freud understanding of Oedipus tells us that humans only see what they want while masking the reality of the world. He believes this is the reason for the feelings of many bourgeois Europeans during the 19th century of modernity. Karl Marx insinuated that modernity was the destruction of tradition, and that humankind was expected to tolerate the contradictory lives that modernity created. 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