Mark Rice. Dean Worcester’s Fantasy Islands: Photography, Film, and the Colonial Philippines. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2015. 220 pages.

Authors

Hidde Van der Wall, Ateneo de Manila UniversityFollow

Abstract

Excerpt: Dean Worcester, secretary of the interior in the Philippines from 1901 to 1913, established an extensive archive of photographs and films made in the American colony. Through photography, Worcester supported his claim that the Philippines and its inhabitants were not ready for independence—and would not be so in the near future either. His photographs focused largely on non-Christian “tribes” in order to show that these groups needed both the guidance of the Americans and their protection against the Christianized lowlanders.

Recommended Citation

Van der Wall, Hidde (2016) "Mark Rice. Dean Worcester’s Fantasy Islands: Photography, Film, and the Colonial Philippines. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2015. 220 pages.," Perspectives in the Arts and Humanities Asia: Vol. 6: No. 2, Article 6.
Available at: https://archium.ateneo.edu/paha/vol6/iss2/6