23  VIEW ON THE NEW ROAD—MISSISSIPPI BAY.

The picture shows beautiful scenery and a road being built. Looking at the picture, it seems like progress for the Japanese. However, the caption shows that Westerners of the time are really seeing it as increased Western control, showing a Western attitude of superiority and the importance of ideology of capitalism and free trade. “Whatever may have been the motives which induced the Japanese to construct the New Road is scarcely worth an enquiry. That the road, however, is a comfort and a luxury to the Foreign residents of Yokohama cannot be questioned.”  The caption also includes coded language.  It describes the impressive British buildings going up, but really this is showing Western encroachment. The author describes his ideological prejudices - that Western buildings/culture are bringing improvements to Japan and, more importantly, are allowing for expansion of Western ideologies.

39   CASCADE AT JIU-NI-SO.

The picture, Cascade at Jiu-Ni-So, shows a beautiful spot in nature. Since, Shinto is very connected to nature, you would understand it could be a religious site for the Japanese. It also looks like a Garden of Eden type setting. The caption however displays ideological prejudice. It shows Western attitudes of superiority – their myths are better than Asian myths. Christians are purified with baptism by water and Catholic holy water can scare the devil away and heal the sick. However, Asian healing by water is just superstition. The description of the people as “creatures” is an example of coded language. He is implying they are inferior to Westerners.

1. Photographs can serve to invoke emotional responses in people such as a yearning for times gone by. Beato’s pictures of the Tōkaidō caused this feeling in Westerners who saw their own rural areas being destroyed by urban expansion. The pictures promote the myth that life was so much better in the past.

2. Photographs alone don’t always get the artist’s message across clearly. Beato supplied long captions to explain history, culture, religion so Westerners could relate to the Japanese experience. One example is the picture of the island of Pappenberg. It looks idyllic, but to Westerners of the time it became the symbol of Christian persecution in Japan. Without the caption, Beato’s clientele would not know the history associated with the picture. The caption also went on to suggest that it might be a good time to attempt again to impose the Christian ideology on the Japanese people.

3. We think of photographs as showing life as it truly is, but they often are misleading. Photographs can be set up to tell what the artist wants to say and to influence others’ behaviors. Beato put Westerners in pictures at various locations to encourage other Westerners to visit these sites. Therefore, he attempted to create the myth that a lot of Westerners were already visiting these sites. The pictures were meant to increase tourism, rather than show popular tourist attractions. More people would then buy his pictures of those sites after visiting them.