If a photo is worth a thousand words, what would those words say? Paul Jenkins explores questions about representation, cultural context, and historical meaning in a photograph by Basel Mission photographer Rudolf Fisch. The photograph was taken at the beginning of the 20th century in Akwapim, the traditional Akon Kingdom in Ghana.

This visual essay by Paul Jenkins and produced by Matt Gainer draws on resources from the International Mission Photography Archive and is the first in a series of Visual Interpreters pieces produced by the USC Digital Library and the USC Center for Religion & Civic Culture.

The photographs used in this essay can be found in:

• The USC Digital Library — digitallibrary.usc.edu
• The International Mission Photography Archive — usc.edu/impa
• The Basel Mission Pictures Archive — bmpix.org

Reading an image in the Other context from Matt Gainer on Vimeo.

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