IMAGES have visual grammar. Consciously or covertly, their interpretations or misrepresent-ations of reality can seep into popular thought and cause a cultural bias. Stepan shows how this has happened with western notions of the tropics. Racism and European explorers鈥� sense of cultural superiority has influenced their choice of images in popular accounts of tropical nature, and these pictures still distort reality, misinform political decision-making and disappoint eco-tourists today. Her powerful analysis exposes the hidden psychology of image-making.
Picturing Tropical Nature
Reaktion Books
