Framing time: Photographs of New Guinea from the Crane Pacific Expedition, 1928-29

This dissertation is about the photographs made on The Crane Pacific Expedition 1928-29. Specifically it concerns those taken while visiting the island of New Guinea and the Sepik River. The photographs are discussed here for the first time and include photographer attributions, collection information, expedition itineraries, village provenances, dates and times. It includes a review of the exploration of the region, with emphasis on the objectives and photographs of American expeditions prior to Crane.;This work also questions why photographs of non-European cultures have been categorized and discussed in a body of literature separate from the history of photography. An overview of the literature on photography and anthropology is provided.;This work begins with questions about the content of the photographs and quickly moves to locate the context of the photography. The premise of this work is that if the specific circumstances and context of a photograph are known, that the information may assist in the understanding of how the art and culture of the Sepik was perceived and framed photographically in 1929. Although any subsequent interpretation will reflect the biases of the time, it is assumed that detailed contextual information will assist in the interpretation. Semiotic theory is used to go beyond deconstruction and a social history of art and investigate how meaning is made with these photographs. The statement by Roland Barthes that the photograph is "a message without a code" is tested. The question is posed whether the photograph is a pure analogical document or a compilation of indexes which combine to represent an event. The unique way an expedition photograph signifies meaning is explored. This emphasis offers a way to focus on the cultural meaning of the photographs.