Indigenous Women and the Camera

3 cr · Undergraduate

Indigenous women have had a long and problematic relationship with the camera. The colonial lens created a visual legacy of exoticism and objectification, creating images that continue to haunt us. However, women also sought the camera for their own purposes, seizing control of their own representation, and ‘speaking back’. Now photography and film are among the strongest modes of women’s contemporary artistic expression. This course will explore both legacies from Indigenous women worldwide. Whenever possible, the class will integrate with the Native Women & Film festival, a film event that brings women filmmakers to Winnipeg. Students may not hold credit for WOMN 3120 and WOMN 2540 with the topic "Indigenous Women and the Camera."